LEONARD  WO 


CONSERVATOR  OF 
AMERICANISM 

ABiognpkrhjrWlC  FISHER  WOOD 


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LEONARD  WOOD 

CONSERVATOR  OF  AMERICANISM 


LEONARD  WOOD  IN   1919 


LEONARD  WOOD 

CONSERVATOR   OF  AMERICANISM 


A  BIOGRAPHY 

BY 

ERIC   FISHER  WOOD 

AUTHOR    OF    "THE    WRITING    ON    THE    WALL," 

"THE    NOTE-BOOK   OF   AN   ATTACHE,"^ 

ETC.,  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


'  •  >  ► 


NEW  XSJr  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


^w 


***> 


COPYRIGHT,  I92O,  BY 
GEORGE    H.  DORAN    COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE    UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA 


TO 

MY  WIFE 


NOTE  BY  THE  PUBLISHERS 

Major-General  Leonard  Wood,  the  subject 
of  this  biography,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Eric 
Fisher  Wood,  the  author,  are  not  connected  by 
blood  ties. 

The  author  is  a  "Plattsburger"  and  his  mili- 
tary career  is  typical  of  that  of  hundreds  x)i 
young  Americans,  who  enthusiastically  translated 
into  action  the  teaching  of  Leonard  Wood,  the 
prophet  of  Americanism. 

During  the  World  War,  the  author  was  twice 
wounded  and  twice  decorated;  and  although  at 
the  beginning  of  the  conflict  he  was  only  twenty- 
five  years  old,  and  had  had  no  previous  military 
experience,  the  end  of  hostilities  found  him  a 
Lieutenant-Colonel  on  the  General  Staff — a  re- 
sult of  the  impetus  gained  at  Plattsburg  under 
the  inspiration  of  General  Wood's  teaching. 

As  one  of  the  Executive  Board  of  nine  mem- 
bers which  conducted  the  Plattsburg  Military 
Training  Camps  Association,  and  as  a  writer  and 
speaker  on  preparedness,  the  author  frequently 
came  into  contact  with  the  subject  of  this  bi- 
ography, both  in  an  official  and  in  a  social  way. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Wood  is  a  graduate  of 
[vii] 


NOTE  BY  THE  PUBLISHERS 

Yale  University  and  was  a  student  of  architecture 
at  the  ficole  des  Beaux  Arts  in  Paris  before  the 
War.  In  19 14  he  was  Civil  Attache  at  the  Amer- 
ican Embassy  in  that  city,  and  later  a  founder 
and  commissioned  officer  of  the  American  Am- 
bulance in  France. 

When  he  returned  to  the  United  States  in  191 5 
Ke  became  an  active  participant  in  the  Plattsburg 
movement,  and  Vice-President  of  the  National 
Security  League. 

He  served  in  the  British  Army  during  the  first 
six  months  of  19 17,  and  in  July  of  that  year  was 
released  from  the  British  forces  and  commis- 
sioned Major  of  Infantry  in  the  new  National 
Army  of  the  United  States. 

He  is  the  author  of  "The  Note  Book  of  an 
Attache,"  "The  Writing  on  the  Wall,"  "The 
Note  Book  of  an  Intelligence  Officer"  and  of 
numerous  magazine  articles. 


PREFACE 

The  idea  of  writing  a  biography  of  Leonard 
Wood  first  took  shape  in  my  mind  as  early  as 
1914. 

At  that  time  I  was  in  the  American  diplomatic 
service  in  Europe,  where  the  war,  and  military 
matters  in  general,  became  the  one  and  only  sub- 
ject of  interest.  'One  of  the  all-absorbing  topics 
was  the  question  of  America's  probable  attitude 
towards  the  war. 

•  This  led  to  much  discussion  of  American  af- 
fairs and  American  men  among  the  civilians  and 
officials  with  whom  I  came  into  contact  in  France 
and  England,  in  Germany  and  Austria. 

I  then  gained  a  new  conception  of  Leonard 
Wood,  and  discovered  that  his  reputation  was  far 
higher  in  Europe  than  at  home.  In  America  we 
thought  of  him  merely  as  a  competent  soldier, 
but  I  found  that  the  official  classes  of  the  Allies 
and  of  the  Central  Powers  rated  him  not  only  a 
great  soldier,  but  as  one  of  the  world's  greatest 
administrators;  and  that  they  considered  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt  and  Leonard  Wood  the  two  most 
notable  living  Americans. 

Since   19 14  his  own  countrymen  have  seen 
[ix] 


PREFACE 

Leonard  Wood  in  a  new  light,  for  his  work  at 
Plattsburg,  his  pleas  for  preparedness,  and  his 
dignified  reticence  under  injustice  have  elevated 
him  in  public  opinion  at  home  nearer  to  the  Euro- 
pean estimate. 

Before  commencing  the  compilation  of  this 
biography,  I  had  expected  to  find,  already  in  print, 
a  great  mass  of  material  upon  which  to  base  my 
work,  and  confidently  anticipated  being  able  to 
study  numerous  books,  either  written  by  Leonard 
Wood  or  about  him.  My  search  for  such  ready- 
made  material  was,  however,  fruitless.  Little 
or  nothing  was  to  be  discovered. 

I  found  that  he  had,  for  popular  consumption, 
published  only  one  small  volume  on  prepared- 
ness, and  that  that  contained  no  information 
about  himself.  It  was,  in  fact,  so  impersonal 
that,  even  inferentially,  one  could  gain  little  im- 
pression of  the  writer  beyond  his  burning  spirit 
of  patriotism. 

It  was  also  surprising  to  find  how  little  he 
had  ever  talked  about  himself,  and  how  seldom 
he  had  given  others  a  chance  to  talk  about  him  or 
his  work. 

He  has  preeminently  been  "not  the  speaker 
but  the  doer  of  the  word."  No  living  man  of 
equally  great  achievements  has  so  effectively  es- 
caped publicity. 

During  my  past  acquaintance  with  him,  as 
well  as  in  numerous  recent  interviews,  it  seemed 
impossible  to  obtain  from  him  any  material  of  a 

[x] 


PREFACE 

strictly  personal  character.  He  has  been  most 
generous  in  furnishing  subject-matter,  relating 
to  historical  events  in  which  he  had  participated, 
but  his  part  in  these  events  was  passed  over 
lightly  or  was  allowed  to  drop  out  of  sight  alto- 
gether. 

It  therefore  became  necessary  to  fall  back 
upon  a  painstaking  research  into  his  official  re- 
ports— of  which  there  are  nearly  a  hundred  vol- 
umes, upon  my  own  knowledge  of  his  personal- 
ity, and  upon  information  gained  by  me  during 
several  years  from  his  associates,  past  and 
present. 

Among  those  to  whom  I  am  especially  indebted 
for  valuable  information  and  strong  impressions 
are  the  late  Theodore  Roosevelt,  the  late  Robert 
Bacon,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
and  Colonel  Henry  L.  Stimson,  who  was  Secre- 
tary of  War  when  General  Wood  was  Chief  of 
Staff;  also  to  Mr.  Edward  Barlow,  one  of 
Wood's  boyhood  playmates;  to  Captain  Patch, 
who  served  with  him  in  the  Indian  campaigns  of 
the  Southwest;  to  General  Edwin  F.  Glenn  and 
General  Charles  Kilbourne,  each  of  whom  has 
served  as  his  Chief  of  Staff;  to  Halstead  Dorey, 
Gordon  Johnston,  S.  M.  Williams,  Wilbur  Smith, 
Thomas  Gowenlock  and  Landon  Thomas,  who 
have  at  various  times  served  him  as  aides-de- 
camp or  staff  officers;  and  to  his  sons,  Leonard, 
Jr.,  and  Osborne. 

I  am  also  indebted  to  my  mother,  Frances 

[xi] 


PREFACE 

Fisher  Wood,  not  only  for  valuable  aid  in  pre- 
paring this  book  for  publication,  but  also  for 
careful  genealogical  research  in  Leonard  Wood's 
ancestral  lines,  resulting  in  the  discovery  of  the 
names  and  records  of  some  four  hundred  of  his 
American  ancestors. 

n         i  K  R  W- 

December,  1919. 


[xii] 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    Ancestry  and  Boyhood 19 

II    Personal  Characteristics 42 

III  As  a  Surgeon        .     . 48 

IV  The  Geronimo  Campaign           .     v  56 
V    The  Spanish-American  War     ....  72 

VI     Governor  of  Santiago 97 

VII     The  Wood  Method 112 

VIII    Appointed  Governor  of  Cuba       .     .     .  127 

IX    Governor  of  Cuba 142 

X    Turning    Their    Government    Over    to 

Cubans 175 

XI    The  Conquest  of  Yellow  Fever       .     .  188 

XII    The  Rathbone  Case 203 

XIII  Governor  of  the  Moro  Province      .     .  216 

XIV  Dato  Ali 237 

XV    The  Military  Administrator  .     .     .     .  252 

XVI    The  Conservator  of  Americanism     .     .  281 

XVII    The  World  War        302 

Index 345 

[  xiii  ] 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Leonard  Wood  in  191 9 Frontispiece 

PAGE 

pocasset  b oys  of  today.    grandsons  of  leonard 

Wood's  Boyhood  Playmates 32 

The  Schoolhouse  in  Poc asset  Where,  as  a  Boy, 

He  Studied  for  Six  Years 32 

The    House   Which    Leonard's    Father    Built 

About  1875 33 

Where  the  "Shorepeeps"  Lived 33 

Geronimo,  War  Chief  of  the  Apaches    ...       64 

Some  of  the  Men  Who  Ran  Down  the  Apaches.       64 

The  Apache  Chieftains  Shortly  After  Their 

Capture 65 

Leonard  Wood  at  the  Time  of  the  Geronimo 

Campaign 65 

Officers  of  the  Cavalry  Division     ....       80 

Leonard  Wood  and  His  Eldest  Son  at  the  Epoch 

of  the  Spanish  War 80 

Chaplain   Brown   Preaching   to   the    " Rough 

Riders" 81 

Leonard  Wood  as  Governor  of  Cuba    ...     144 

Governor  Wood's  Headquarters  in  Habana    .     144 

[XV] 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The  American  Army  Entering  Habana  .      .      .  145 

The  Cuban  Rural  Guard,  Organized  by  Govern- 
or Wood  to  Preserve  Order  Among  Their 

Countrymen .      .      .      .  145 

Habana  Harbor 145 

Morro  Castle        145 

"Before  and  After  Taking"  Members  of  the 

Philippine  Native  Constabulary      .      .      .  224 

A  Mohammedan  Moro  and  His  Family  .      .      .  224 

The  Princessa  of  Cotabato  and  the  Sultan  of 

Magindanao 224 

A  Moro  Boloman 224 

A  Sea  Moro  Pirate  Chieftain 225 

A  Ruined  Spanish  Church  in  Mindanao      .      .  225 

In  the  Philippines 225 

A  Typical  Village  Street  in  the  Moro  Province  225 

At  the  German  Maneuvres  of  1902  .     .      .      .  288 

At  Plattsburg.     "Not  too  Proud  to  Fight"  .  288 

At  Plattsburg.    Watching  the  Plattsburgers 

at  Drill 288 

At  Camp  Funston.    General  Wood  Began  the 
Training  of  His  Mounted  Troops  in  Spite 

of  the  Lack  of  Horses 289 

At  Camp  Funston.    Typical  Reserve  Officers 

in  Field  Uniform 289 

At  Gary 289 

At  the  Time  of  the  Boston  Police  Strike      .  289 

[xvi] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

CONSERVATOR  OF  AMERICANISM 


LEONARD  WOOD 

CONSERVATOR 
OF  AMERICANISM 

CHAPTER  I 

ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

Leonard  Wood's  parents  were  Charles  Jewett 
Wood,  born  at  Leicester,  Massachusetts,  and 
Caroline  Hager,  born  at  Weston,  Massachusetts ; 
they  were  married  in  1859,  when  the  former  was 
thirty  years  old  and  the  latter  twenty-three.  The 
father,  Charles  Wood,  was  a  physician.  Leonard, 
their  first  child,  was  born  on  October  9th,  i860, 
at  Winchester,  New  Hampshire. 

The  next  spring  the  Civil  War,  long  smolder- 
ing, burst  into  flames.  Ever  since  December, 
1620,  when  two  of  Charles  Wood's  forbears, 
Stephen  Hopkins  and  Richard  Warren,  had 
landed  from  the  Mayflower  under  command 
of  Captain  Myles  Standish  as  members  of  a  rec- 
onnoitering  party  and  had  fought  the  famous 
"First  Encounter''  with  the  Indians  two  weeks 

[19] 


.  i  \:\ :  Leonard  wood 

before  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth 
Rock,  there  had  never  been  any  warfare  in  Amer- 
ica in  which  the  ancestors  of  Charles  Wood  had 
not  bravely  taken  their  full  part. 

Therefore,  it  was  consistent  with  the  family 
tradition  that  in  1861  he  should  promptly  answer 
the  call  to  arms.  Moreover,  his  brave  wife,  who 
was  descended  from  equally  stalwart  lines,  and 
was  a  great-granddaughter  of  General  John 
Nixon  of  the  Revolution,  insisted  that  she 
should  not  stand  as  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  his 
patriotic  duty.  The  dominant  characteristic  of 
their  ancestors  who  are  on  record  was,  genera- 
tion after  generation,  without  exception,  devo- 
tion to  the  high  ideals  of  what  we  now  call  Ameri- 
canism,— and  the  records  of  an  astonishingly 
large  number  of  them  are  known  to  us. 

The  forbears  of  both  Charles  and  Caroline 
Wood  were  all  born  in  this  country  or  migrated 
to  it  before  1700,  nearly  all  arriving  before  1650, 
and  the  personal  histories  of  more  than  four  hun- 
dred of  them  have  been  traced  and  are  set  down 
in  public  records.  Seven  of  them  were  passengers 
on  the  Mayflower;  and  more  than  fifty  during  the 
period  of  the  Colonial  Wars  rendered  patriotic 
service,  either  by  active  duty  in  the  field  against 
the  French  and  Indians,  or  by  equally  valuable 
service  in  the  legislative  bodies  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Colony.  In  the  later  generations,  at 
least  seven  were  soldiers  in  the  Revolution.* 

*See  Appendix  No.  2. 

[20] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

It  must  be  granted  that  a  long  line  of  colonial 
ancestors  is  not  in  itself  a  conclusive  guarantee 
that  a  man  will  be  imbued  with  a  spirit  of  pro- 
found patriotism,  for  some  of  our  American-born 
Tories,  Copperheads  and  Bolsheviks  have  con- 
spicuously lacked  that  virtue,  while  it  is  found  in 
a  superlative  degree  in  many  recently  naturalized 
citizens  of  foreign  birth.  But  in  Wood's  pedigree 
we  discover  an  unprecedented  record,  for  among 
his  hundreds  of  known  ancestors  not  one  is 
found  who  cannot  pass  the  severest  test  of  Amer- 
icanism. From  earliest  times,  his  forbears  have 
striven  for  that  ideal  condition  where  love  of  per- 
sonal liberty  is  happily  balanced  by  respect  for 
constitutional  law. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  Mayflower  would  need 
to  have  been  as  large  as  the  Leviathan  to  have 
brought  over  as  many  souls  as  present-day  Amer- 
icans claim  came  across  in  that  tiny  bark.  In 
point  of  fact,  there  were,  according  to  the  records 
of  Governor  Bradford  of  Plymouth,  exactly  104 
passengers  on  the  ship  and  among  them  were  only 
twenty-two  heads  of  families  to  whom  those 
claiming  Mayflower  ancestry  have  ever  been  able 
to  prove  descent. 

Leonard  Wood,  by  verified  records,  traces  to 
four  of  these  twenty-two  men : — William  White, 
Francis  Cooke,  Stephen  Hopkins  and  Richard 
Warren,  and  to  three  of  the  members  of  their 
families  who  accompanied  them. 

Many  of  the  passengers  of  the  Mayflower  were 

[21] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

appalled  at  the  inconceivable  hardships  of  the 
first  winter  in  Cape  Cod,  and,  finding  the  struggle 
to  realize  their  ideals  of  liberty  too  arduous  for 
their  endurance,  returned  next  spring  to  Eng- 
land; but  no  one  of  Wood's  ancestors  was  among 
these  of  faint-heart. 

Also,  many  of  the  less  hardy  among  the  little 
band  died  in  Plymouth  during  that  terrible  win- 
ter. The  twenty-two  leaders,  who  with  their 
families  survived  the  ordeal  and  braved  it  out, 
left  long  lines  of  descendants  who  in  physical 
vigor,  indomitable  courage  and  strength  of  prin- 
ciple have  for  three  centuries  been  the  superlative 
type  of  American  citizen. 

To  the  early  immigrants,  Puritans  or  Pilgrims, 
and  their  descendants  their  new  country  was  first, 
last,  and  always  of  supreme  importance.  In  it 
they  had  finally  found  a  refuge,  where  they  could 
develop  for  their  children  and -their  children's 
children  an  atmosphere  of  religious  liberty  and 
constitutional  political  freedom. 

It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that  Leonard 
Wood's  character  and  the  ideals  by  which  he  has 
directed  his  life  should  correspond  closely  to  the 
ideals  of  the  men,  his  ancestors,  who  signed  the 
immortal  Compact  in  the  little  cabin  of  the 
Mayflower  on  that  bleak  twentieth  of  December, 
1620 — a  compact  that  is  justly  considered  to  em- 
body the  vital  germ  of  our  own  great  Constitu- 
tion. 

In  addition  to  the  dominant  instinct  for  patri- 

[22] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

otic  public  service,  with  its  natural  corollaries  of 
military  and  legislative  activity,  we  find  in  Leon- 
ard Wood's  heredity,  recurring  in  several  genera- 
tions, a  leaning  toward  the  medical  profession, 
which  claims  for  its  own  men  who  possess  the 
scientific  turn  of  mind,  supplemented  with  intense 
devotion  to  public  welfare  and  an  unlimited  ca- 
pacity for  self-sacrifice. 

These  hereditary  traits — medical,  patriotic  and 
executive — are  the  foundation  upon  which  Leon- 
ard Wood,  by  virtue  of  his  strong  will  and  his 
ability  to  conquer  his  environment,  has  built  up 
his  earnest  and  efficient  character.  They  rendered 
possible  the  great  feats  of  administrative  recon- 
struction which  early  earned  for  him  his  well- 
deserved  international  fame, — feats  that  would 
have  been  impossible  of  accomplishment  to  any 
one  with  military  ability  alone. 

In  upholding  and  defending  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  which  his  ancestors  had 
helped  to  make,  and  in  upholding  the  ancient  stand- 
ards of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  the  man  with  a  long 
American  pedigree  has  to-day  a  special  mission 
among  us.  When  the  foundations  of  civilization 
are  shaken,  we  look  to  these  men  of  traditional 
patriotism  to  steady  them ;  and  to  effect  reforms 
and  correct  abuses  as  our  forefathers  did,  by  con- 
structive constitutional  means  and  not  by  the  de- 
structive measures  of  direct  action. 

The  men  who  settled  New  England  were  of 
marked  type,  fanatical  perhaps,  but  fanatical  for 

[23] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

great  principles.  Personal  comfort  they  aban- 
doned, class  distinctions  they  abolished,  surplus 
wealth  was  unknown  among  them.  Even  as  late 
as  1720  the  estate  of  the  richest  man  in  Massa- 
chusetts was  inventoried  at  only  $20,000. 

In  much  of  New  England,  these  primitive  con- 
ditions had  been  modified  before  Leonard  Wood 
was  born.  In  the  larger  towns  social  distinctions 
had  become  fixed,  considerable  fortunes  had  ac- 
cumulated, and  the  rigid  principles  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  had  been  relaxed.  But  at  Cape  Cod, 
where  he  passed  the  first  nineteen  years  of  his 
life,  conditions  were  almost  as  simple  as  at 
Plymouth  in  the  early  Colonial  days. 

Pending  her  husband's  return  from  the  Civil 
War,  Caroline  Wood  lived  with  her  people  at 
Weston,  Massachusetts,  and  there  Leonard  grew 
from  babyhood  to  boyhood.  The  family  was  not 
re-united  until  1865,  when  Charles  came  back 
from  the  army  to  rejoin  his  wife.  Shortly  after- 
wards they  moved  to  Chiltonville  near  Plymouth. 
Doctor  Wood's  health  had  been  wrecked  by  per- 
nicious malaria,  contracted  during  the  war,  and 
he  was  advised  to  live  among  the  pines  and  sands 
of  the  Cape.  It  was  at  Chiltonville  that  his  sec- 
ond son,  Jacob,  was  born. 

A  few  months  later  the  Woods  moved  across 
the  Cape  from  the  Plymouth  side,  to  Monument 
Beach  on  the  Buzzards  Bay  side,  where  their 
third  and  last  child,  Barbara,  was  born. 

In  1867  the  family  again  transferred  itself, 

[24] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

this  time  moving  a  short  three  miles  along  the 
shore  in  the  direction  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  to 
Pocasset,  where  a  more  central  location  for  the 
Doctor's  practice  could  be  obtained.  There  they 
established  their  permanent  residence;  there 
Leonard's  boyhood  and  youth  were  passed,  and 
there  he  lived  until  he  went  as  a  young  man  to 
Harvard  in  1880. 

At  that  time  most  of  the  people  of  Pocasset 
were  sailors,  either  owning  their  own  vessels  in 
the  coastwise  trade,  or  serving  as  masters  of 
whalers  or  other  deep-sea  ships. 

In  the  desire  to  visualize  the  environment  and 
sense  the  atmosphere  of  Leonard  Wood's  boy- 
hood, I  paid  a  visit  to  Pocasset,  which  is  to-day 
a  local  stop  between  Buzzards  Bay  Station  and 
Wood's  Hole  on  the  Old  Colony  Line.  Its  little 
depot  stands  quite  by  itself;  in  the  middle  dis- 
tance are  to  be  seen  two  or  three  houses,  a  church, 
and  a  schoolhouse.  The  people  of  Pocasset  live 
in  farmhouses  widely  scattered  along  two  miles 
of  the  main  street,  which  crosses  the  railway  at 
right  angles. 

The  train  stopped  a  few  reluctant  seconds  to 
allow  four  passengers  to  alight  and  then  was 
off  again  chugging  diminuendo  towards  Catau- 
met,  its  next  stop  two  miles  down  the  line.  Two 
of  the  passengers  started  cross-lots  over  the  fields 
while  a  third  approached  a  waiting  farmer's 
wagon,  whose  driver  was  the  only  sign  of  life 
visible  about  the  depot  and  therefore  the  only  ap- 

[25] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

parent  source  of  information.  He  showed  pained 
surprise  when  I  asked  him  if  there  was  any  hotel 
where  I  might  spend  the  night. 

"Reckon  you  better  go  up  to  the  post-mistress' 
place  and  see  if  she  can  let  you  have  a  room. 
Fourth  house  on  the  left,  up  the  road  and  over  the 
hill." 

Five  minutes'  walk  brought  me  to  the  post- 
mistress' house.  She  was  not  at  home  I  was  in- 
formed by  her  younger  sister,  a  maiden  lady  of 
fifty-odd,  a  perfectly  delightful  person  whose 
continued  spinsterhood  inspired  me  with  aston- 
ishment,— until  I  remembered  that  the  Old  Col- 
ony constitutes  one  of  the  birthplaces  of  Amer- 
ica's pioneers  and  the  cradle  of  her  Empire- 
builders.  For  centuries  her  enterprising  young 
manhood  has  generation  after  generation  fared 
forth  to  conquer  and  push  back  the  geographic 
and  industrial  frontiers  of  America,  in  the  pro- 
cess leaving  behind  their  sisters  and  those  of 
their  comrades. 

The  postmistress'  sister  said  that  they  "were 
not  fixed  to  take  boarders,"  but  added  with  the 
most  generous  and  unaffected  hospitality  that 
they  would,  nevertheless,  find  some  way  to  lodge 
me  if  other  means  failed.  Other  means  proved 
to  be  Mrs.  Jones'  boarding  house  "up  the  road 
a  piece." 

It  developed  during  our  conversation  that  my 
informant  had  been  a  schoolmate  of  General 
Wood  in  the  little  village  school,  and  I  induced 

[26] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

her  to  talk  about  his  parents  and  his  school  life 
for  an  hour,  before  I  sought  Mrs.  Jones'  establish- 
ment. 

"I  was  only  ten,"  she  said,  "and  was  in  my 
first  year  at  school  when  Leonard  left  to  go  to 
Pierce  Academy  at  Middleboro.  I  saw  him  in 
Washington  six  or  eight  years  ago  and  he  re- 
membered me  perfectly.  He  said,  Why  you  don't 
look  a  bit  different  from  what  you  did  when  you 
were  the  littlest  girl  in  the  village  school,  and  T 
was  the  biggest  boy/ 

"I  can't  tell  you  a  great  deal  about  his  boyhood, 
because  of  his  being  six  years  older  than  I,  and 
because  he  was  a  regular  boy  and  didn't  care 
much  for  girls.  But  his  sister,  Barbara,  was  my 
best  friend  until  she  died  in  1880  when  she  was 
fourteen,  and  I  used  to  be  over  to  their  house 
often,  and  knew  her  father  and  mother,  and  I 
can  tell  you  about  them. 

"They  were  most  awfully  fond  of  each  other. 
I  don't  think  they  minded  the  hard  work  of  be- 
ing a  country  doctor's  family,  or  anything  else 
for  that  matter,  as  long  as  they  could  be  together. 
They  were  everything  to  each  other. 

"Doctor  Charles  Wood  was  .the  leading  citizen 
of  Pocasset  in  his  day,  being  head  of  the  school- 
board  and  having  a  great  deal  of  influence  in  the 
community.  He  was  universally  well  liked,  had 
a  great  sense  of  humor,  excellent  judgment,  and 
was  most  kind-hearted.  Every  one  respected  him 
for  his  unselfishness,  of  which  the  most  striking 


LEONARD  WOOD 

evidence  was  the  vast  number  of  uncollected  bills 
which  he  left  at  his  death. 

"Leonard's  mother  was  a  mighty  fine  woman 
with  lots  of  character.  She  was  most  ambitious 
for  her  boys  and  deserves  a  lot  more  credit  for 
their  success  than  most  people  remember  to  give 
her.  Doctor  Wood  died  in  1880,  when  Leonard 
was  nineteen,  but  Mrs.  Wood  outlived  him  more 
than  thirty  years  and  always  exerted  a  great  deal 
of  influence  over  her  two  sons,  so  that  in  addition 
to  Leonard's  success,  his  younger  brother,  Jacob, 
has  become  a  very  progressive  and  prosperous 
business  man. 

"All  of  us  children  used  to  go  to  the  district 
school,  for  it  was  the  only  one  in  or  near  Pocas- 
set.  It  was  a  mixed  school  of  about  thirty  girls 
and  boys.  There  were  the  three  Gibbs  boys ;  and 
Carrie  and  Lizzie  Adams;  and  the  two  Dimock 
boys,  and  Georgiana  Dimock;  and  Fred  and  Ed 
Barlow;  and  Sadie  Beckerman  who  is  to-day 
Mrs.  Fred  Barlow,  and  Lizzie  Wright,  who  is 
now  Mrs.  Ed  Barlow;  and  Andrew  and  Preston 
Wright;  and  Leonard  Wood  and  Louis  Ray- 
mond; and  Herbert,  Everett,  Jeanette,  Walter, 
Eleanor  and  Abner  Avery;  and  Lucy,  Mary  and 
Annie  Wing  who  are  all  dead  now,  and  Chester 
and  Byron  Wing,  and  Henry  Hammond,  and 
several  more  whose  names  I  have  forgotten. 

"The  school  was  equivalent  to  the  gram- 
mar school  of  to-day,  but  was  not  divided  into 
grades.     In  the  autumn  each  scholar  told  the 

[28] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

teacher  where  he  left  off  the  spring  before  and 
began  his  work  at  that  point ;  and  each  one  took 
his  own  gait  independently  of  the  rest. 

"The  boys  and  girls  in  the  school  did  not  use 
standard  books,  but  each  studied  from  a  different 
set,  left  over  from  the  school  days  of  their  older 
brothers  and  sisters,  and  some  were  even,  in- 
herited from  parents. 

"No  books  were  provided  by  the  Town,  as  the 
Cape  Codders  were  doubtful  whether  expen- 
sive new  editions  would  be  any  better  than  the 
ones  on  hand,  although  most  of  those  in  use  were 
actually  very  much  out  of  date." 

It  developed  that  the  most  exciting  incident  of 
their  schooldays  was  a  successful  house-to-house 
campaign  undertaken  by  a  new  school-mistress 
named  Miss  Haskell  in  the  hope  of  persuading 
the  parents  of  Pocasset  to  buy  a  few  up-to-date 
text-books  with  which  advantageously  to  begin  a 
new  school  year. 

The  attendance  was  inclined  to  be  irregular. 
Most  of  the  boys  went  to  work  when  they  were 
"knee-high  to  a  grasshopper,"  and  only  came  to 
school  during  their  spare  time  in  the  winter. 

"Even  that  didn't  last  many  years,"  said  my 
informant,  "for  if  they  were  Shore-Peeps  they 
went  to  sea  for  good  before  they  were  sixteen,  or 
into  the  foundry  if  they  were  Up-Roaders." 

I  requested  an  explanation  of  the  terms 
"Shore-Peeps"  and  "Up-Roaders,"  and  learned 
that  the  town  had  once  been  divided  into  two 

[29] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

social  sets.  The  main  road  of  Pocasset  runs  in- 
land two  miles  from  the  shore  until  it  joins  the 
turnpike  from  Buzzards  Bay  Station  to  Wood's 
Hole.  Midway  between  the  water  and  the  turn- 
pike, it  crosses  the  Old  Colony  railroad  at  right 
angles.  Beyond  the  railroad  and  near  the  turn- 
pike there  used  to  be  a  foundry  where  pots  and 
kettles  for  cooking  on  iron  cranes  in  open  fire- 
places were  made,  and  also  giant  cauldrons  for 
the  sugar  plantation  of  Jamaica  and  Louisiana. 
This  foundry,  however,  went  out  of  existence 
twenty-five  years  ago. 

When  Leonard  Wood  was  a  boy,  those  who 
lived  between  the  railroad  and  the  coast  were  fol- 
lowers of  the  sea;  they  were  called  the  Shore- 
Peeps.  Those  who  lived  between  the  railroad 
and  turn-pike  were  molders  and  casters  work- 
ing in  the  foundry,  and  were  nicknamed  the  Up- 
Roaders.  The  Shore-Peeps  and  Up-Roaders  did 
not  harmonize  very  well. 

The  distinction  ran  everywhere  through  all  the 
lives  of  the  inhabitants,  not  merely  with  the  chil- 
dren at  school  or  at  play,  but  with  their  elders  in 
church  or  at  work.  Thus  was  Pocasset  society 
riven  in  twain.  * 

The  schoolhouse,  the  church,  the  depot  and 
the  post-office  were  all  situated  near  the  railway 
half  way  between  shore  and  foundry  and  served 
both  factions  alike.  The  families  of  the  school- 
teacher, the  preacher  and  the  postmistress  were 
neutral  and  were  known  as  the  "In-Betweeners." 

[30] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

Leonard  Wood  was  a  Shore-Peep,  not  only  be- 
cause his  father  lived  between  the  railroad  and 
the  tides,  but  because  his  own  inclination  led  him 
constantly  towards  the  sea.  He  and  his  younger 
brother,  Jacob,  were  always  on  the  water,  cruis- 
ing or  fishing  off  Patuisset  and  Exmouth  and 
Magansett  and  Onset  and  Monument  Beach,  or 
even  venturing  as  far  South  as  Martha's  Vine- 
yard, No-Man's  Land  and  Gay  Head.  As  a  boy 
it  was  Leonard's  ambition  and  intention  to  "go  to 
sea"  when  he  arrived  at  the  mature  age  of  six- 
teen, following  the  example  of  all  good  Shore- 
Peeps. 

"You  ought  to  go  visit  old  Captain  Will  Bar- 
low," advised  the  postmistress'  sister.  "He  ran  a 
sloop  in  the  coast  trade,  carrying  cargoes  be- 
tween ports  when  Leonard  was  a  boy,  and  took 
him  on  several  voyages;  and  you  ought  to  talk 
to  his  younger  brother  Ed,  who  is  about  Leon- 
ard's age.  He  won't  be  home  daytimes  because 
his  wife  is  sick  in  the  hospital  at  New  Bedford, 
and  Captain  Ed  goes  to  see  her  every  blessed  day 
and  hasn't  missed  a  day  for  two  months,  though 
it's  a  forty-mile  trip.  But  he  is  at  home  every 
evening,  and  if  he  isn't,  you'll  find  him  next  door 
at  Mr.  Roland  Finney's,  the  grocer  who  married 
his  daughter. 

"You  ought  also  to  see  Captain  Irving  Gibbs 
of  Cataument,  who  lives  a  couple  of  miles  south 
of  here ;  he  and  Leonard  have  always  been  great 

[34 


LEONARD  WOOD 

friends  ever  since  they  were  six  or  seven  years 
old." 

Accordingly,  that  evening  I  sought  out  Cap- 
tain Edward  Barlow,  and  found  a  business-like 
old  sailor,  who  had  been  master  of  ships  for 
thirty  years.  He  had  commanded  an  American 
trans- Atlantic  steamer  throughout  the  recent  hos- 
tilities, and  even  before  America  came  into  the 
war  was  fired  at  eight  times  by  a  submarine.  As 
had  been  predicted,  he  willingly  added  to  my  in- 
formation about  Doctor  Charles  Wood  and  his 
family. 

"I  can't  tell  you  so  much  about  Leonard  as  I 
can  about  his  father,  because  there  aren't  so 
many  things  to  remember  about  a  boy  as  about 
his  father,  who  worked  with  us  so  many  years, 
and  saved  so  many  of  our  lives. 

"Doctor  Charles  Wood  was  a  wonderful  doc- 
tor. We  think  he  was  the  best  there  ever  was  on 
Cape  Cod.  He  was  very  original  and  a  great 
reader  of  Human  nature.  I  reckon  that  was  an 
important  part  of  his  success  in  his  profession.'' 

Captain  Barlow  told  me  how  his  own  father, 
Captain  Jesse  Barlow,  "had  had  nervous  dys- 
pepsia and  finally  was  unable  to  work  daytimes,  or 
to  sleep  at  night.  For  many  years  he  was  mas- 
ter of  a  small  vessel  in  the  coasting  trade  and 
worked  grinding  hard.  He  ate  when  and  where 
he  could,  and  usually  in  a  hurry;  often  he  bolted 
his  food.  Finally  he  broke  down  his  digestion 
and  developed  his  nervous  dyspepsia. 

m 


THE    HOUSE    WHICH    LEONARD'S   FATHER   BUILT  ABOUT   1875 


WHERE  THE      SHOREPEEPS      LIVED 

32] 


POC ASSET  BOYS  OF  TODAY 

Grandsons  of  Leonard  Wood's  boyhood  playmates. 


THE  SCHOOLHOUSE   IK   POCASSET 

Where,  as  a  boy,  he  studied  for  six  years. 


[33 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

"Then  he  went  to  see  Doctor  Wood  and  asked 
him  for  some  pills.  Doctor  Wood  knew  father 
well,  and  what  ailed  him,  and  why.  He  looked  at 
him  for  a  time,  and  then  said :  'You  better  go  see 
an  osteopath/ 

"'What  will  he  do  to  me?' 

"  'I  don't  know,  but  he  is  sure  to  do  some- 
thing/ 

"So  father  went  away,  meaning  to  visit  an 
osteopath,  but  the  next  day  he  came  back  again, 
and  said  he  had  decided  against  it,  and  wanted 
Doctor  Wood  to  take  charge  of  his  case. 

"  'I  don't  believe  I  can  do  any  good/  said  the 
Doctor. 

"  'If  you  can't,  nobody  can,'  replied  father, 
and  he  stuck  to  it. 

"Finally  the  Doctor  said,  'Since  you  are  so  ob- 
stinate about  it,  I  will  take  care  of  you  on  one 
condition,  and  that  is  that  you  will  do  exactly 
what  I  tell  you,  no  matter  how  hard  the  treat- 
ment seems.'  As  soon  as  father  promised,  he  con- 
tinued : — 

"  'All  right  then,  my  first  orders  are  that  until  I 
come  and  tell  you  to  stop,  you  will  eat  only  one 
meal  a  day,  and  that  to  consist  exclusively  of  rye 
meal  pudding,  without  sugar,  or  milk,  or  salt,  or 
any  other  fixings.' 

"For  several  weeks  father  did  exactly  as.  he 
was  ordered.  He  said  he  felt  as  though  he  was 
starving  to  death,  but  he  stuck  it  out.  Pretty  soon 
he  began  to  sleep  at  night, — although  he  dreamed 

[33] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

constantly  of  being  hungry,  and  of  sitting  down 
to  sumptuous  dinners,  and  of  having  them 
snatched  away  just  as  he  was  beginning  to  eat. 

"At  the  end  of  two  weeks  Doctor  Wood 
came  to  see  him  again  and  told  him  he  could 
now  begin  to  eat  three  meals  a  day,  but  that  as 
long  as  he  lived  he  must  never  again  eat  pies, 
flapjacks,  or  heavy  pastry,  nor  drink  water  with 
his  meals.  'And  take  time  to  eat/  said  the  Doc- 
tor. 'If  you  obey  these  rules,  you  will  never  be 
sick  again  until  you  die  of  old  age.'  Father  did 
keep  them  and  he  lived  to  be  eighty-seven,  and 
worked  almost  to  the  last. 

"The  Woods  were  a  family  possessed  of 
perseverance  and  constitution/'  continued  Cap- 
tain Ed.  "I  guess  those  two  words  describe  them 
better  than  anything  else.  They  were  always 
more  all-fired  persistent  than  anybody  else,  and 
once  they  started,  they  always  had  the  endurance 
to  see  it  through. 

"When  Leonard  and  Jacob  went  gunning  they 
left  home  early,  kept  going  all  day,  and  didn't 
get  back  until  after  dark.  The  other  boys  didn't 
much  like  to  go  with  them;  it  was  too  much  like 
work. 

"And  if  old  Doctor  Wood  hadn't  had  that  sort 
of  a  constitution,  he  would  have  taken  sick  within 
a  year  or  two,  like  a  young  doctor  we  had  here 
recently.  For  you  want  to  remember  that  along 
from  1865  to  1880  there  weren't  any  automobiles 
for  a  country  doctor  to  get  around  in. 

[34] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD     ' 

"Doctor  Wood  had  all  the  practice  in  and 
around  Pocasset  and  he  used  to  drive  a  great 
many  miles  each  day ;  six  miles  up  to  North  Fal- 
mouth, eight  miles  down  to  Sagamore,  and  all  in 
between.  His  old  white  mare  'Freetchy'  (Bar- 
bara Fritchie)  was  a  regular  part  of  the  estab- 
lishment and  was  known  all  over  this  side  of  the 
Cape.  The  Doctor  bought  her  as  a  colt  when  he 
first  came  to  Pocasset,  trained  her  himself,  and 
drove  her  all  the  rest  of  his  life.  She  survived 
him  by  twelve  or  fifteen  years  and  lived  to  be  a 
very  old  horse,  for  she  did  not  die  until  she  was 
thirty-three.  The  two  Wood  boys  continued  to 
drive  her  long  after  the  Doctor  was  gone. 

"Frank  Dimock,  who  was  father  of  the  two 
Dimock  boys  and  a  close  friend  of  the  Woods, 
was  quite  a  poet;  he  wrote  a  poem  about  the  old 
mare,  and  she  is  so  much  of  a  tradition  that  the 
Cape  Codders  still  know  that  song,  although  it's 
forty  years  since  the  Doctor  last  drove  her.  The 
chorus  goes : — 

Improved  with  age 

From  fair  to  good 
The    neighbors    called    her 

Freetchy  Wood. 

"The  Doctor  always  took  care  of  Freetchy  him- 
self, and  she  was  very  faithful  and  industrious. 
When  he  had  to  go  on  long  drives  he  put  in  the 
feed-bag,  so  that  Freetchy  could  have  her  dinner 
while  he  was  seeing  the  patient.  He  would  often 
go  without  food  himself  but  he  always  saw  to  it 
that  Freetchy  had  her  'snack.' 

[35] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

"Those  two  went  through  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  together,  particularly  driving  round  dur- 
ing the  long  cold  winters.  The  Doctor  was  always 
short  of  sleep,  and  used  to  catch  up  by  taking 
naps  while  driving  home.  When  he  had  finished 
with  his  last  patient,  he  would  climb  into  his 
buggy,  start  Freetchy  and  go  sound  asleep.  She 
always  went  straight  back  to  the  Wood  house 
Here  in  Pocasset;  she  had  learned  the  way  from 
every  direction. 

"Sometimes  on  lonely  winter  days  when  we 
were  wood-cutting,  we  would  see  faithful  old 
Freetchy  plodding  along  the  frozen  roads 
towards  home ;  the  Doctor  sitting  behind  her  in  his 
single  seater,  all  wrapped  up  in  his  buffalo  robes 
and  fast  asleep.  When  the  buggy  stopped  in  his 
own  front  yard  he  would  wake  up. 

"Those  rides  were  mighty  lonely,  and  when 
outward  bound  the  Doctor  used  to  tie  a  bit  of  rag 
on  a  wheel-spoke  and  count  the  revolutions  and 
calculate  distances  and  rates  from  place  to  place 
in  order  to  keep  himself  awake.  His  little  red 
rag  was  the  first  speedometer  ever  used  in  this 
part  of  the  country. 

"Doctor  Wood  was  a  great  hand  to  joke,"  said 
Captain  Ed.  "He  always  looked  on  the  funny 
side  of  everything.  I  don't  mean  he  was  a  prac- 
tical joker,  because  he  wasn't,  but  he  just  always 
seemed  to  be  able  to  see  the  humor  even  in  the 
most  unpleasant  situations. 

"One  day  he  was  at  the  depot  waiting  for  the 

[36] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

train,  which  was  very  late.  Some  one  said  to 
him:  'Well,  Doctor,  how  are  your  patients  to- 
day?' 'Nearly  exhausted/  he  replied,  'waiting 
for  this  train.' 

"Back  in  1875,  when  he  had  just  finished  his 
fine  new  house,  one  of  the  neighbors  was  joking 
him  about  it  and  said,  'Doctor,  what  for  is  that 
flat  place  on  top  with  a  rail  round  it  ?' 

"  'Why/  said  the  Doctor,  'that  is  where  I  am 
going  to  stick  on  a  mortgage  if  I  ever  need  one, 
and  the  railing  is  to  keep  any  one  from  getting 
at  it  to  foreclose  it/ 

"One  day  he  was  sailing  across  the  bay  to  On- 
set Beach  with  Leonard.  Leonard  was  then  about 
eight  years  old,  and  was  handling  the  tiller.  An- 
other boat  came  along  cutting  in  on  their  course. 
'Give  'em  more  room/  said  the  Doctor.  'But  we 
have  the  right  of  way/  said  Leonard.  'I  know 
it,  but  I'd  rather  forego  my  rights  than  spend  the 
night  out  here  with  my  mouth  full  of  sea-weed/ 
returned  his  father. 

"Perhaps  I  have  told  you  enough  about  the 
Doctor,  and  you  want  to  hear  what  I  think  about 
Leonard. 

"There's  one  thing  I  particularly  like  about 
him,  and  that  is  that  no  matter  how  elevated  he 
gets,  he  never  changes  any  towards  his  old 
friends.  I  hadn't  seen  him  for  a  good  many 
years  after  he  left  here  to  go  to  Medical  School; 
I  was  mostly  away  at  sea,  and  he  wasn't  often  in 
Pocasset,  being  always  so  busy.     Finally  after 

[37] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

about  twenty  years  I  moved  to  Brooklyn  on  ac- 
count of  being  master  of  a  ship  sailing  out  of 
New  York. 

"He  was  stationed  at  Governor's  Island  and 
one  day  I  decided  to  telephone  him.  Some  sol- 
dier I  didn't  know  answered  the  phone.  I  asked 
for  Leonard  Wood,  and  pretty  soon  I  heard  an- 
other voice  I  didn't  recognize,  and  I  said  again, — • 
'I  want  to  speak  to  Leonard  Wood/  and  the  voice 
answered : — This  is  Leonard  Wood/ 

"  This  is  Ed  Barlow/ 

"'Ed  Barlow,  Ed  Barlow?'  he  said  twice, 
thoughtful  like,  and  then  after  a  second,  'It's  just 
twenty-three  years  since  I  last  heard  your  voice.' 
I  was  kind  of  dumbfounded,  because  /  couldn't 
recollect  to  save  my  soul  when  I  had  seen  him 
last.  'I  only  have  one  day  to  myself  and  that's 
Sunday,'  he  said,  'come  over  and  see  me  next 
Sunday.'  And  I  went  and  we  spent  four  or  five 
hours  together." 

Captain  Barlow  and  I  drove  to  Cataumet  to 
see  Captain  Gibbs,  who  had  also  gone  to  school 
with  Leonard  and  who  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
most  interesting  sea  captains  I  have  ever  met.  He 
seemed  to  think  that  Leonard  Wood  had  not  as 
a  boy  been  "much  to  look  at."  He  said,  "He 
had  a  strong  and  stocky  build,  light  blue  eyes,  and 
a  shock  of  whitish  hair,  lighter  than  yellow,  about 
the  color  of  raw  hemp.  He  looked  like  any  other 
boy  except  for  his  hair. 

"Leonard  was  more  fond  of  shooting  and  fish- 

[38] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

ing  than  the  rest  of  us.  He  was  a  quiet  sort  of 
a  boy  who  didn't  have  much  to  say  for  himself. 
He  didn't  hang  around  much  with  the  other  ,boys, 
and  you  would  hardly  know  how  to  get  him  into 
a  quarrel.  But  when  he  did  get  into  a  fight,  his 
face  sort  of  lit  up;  and  he  wasn't  ever  afraid  of 
anything. 

"I  remember  when  he  first  came  here,  Frank 
Dimock  and  I  laid  for  him,  but  he  whipped  the 
two  of  us.  He  blacked  my  eye  and  cut  Frank's 
lip.  Up  to  that  time  we  boys  always  wrestled 
when  we  got  into  a  fight,  but  Leonard  introduced 
the  new  method." 

Captain  Irving  meditated  a  moment,  and  then 
added,  "I  will  say  this  for  myself,  that  at  the  time 
Leonard  whipped  me  I  was  most  a  year  younger 
than  him,  but  Frank  was  his  age  and  size. 

"Leonard  always  had  lots  of  character,  even  as 
a  boy.  He  got  that  from  his  father  and  mother. 
It  was  in  the  family  and  was  born  in  him.  They 
were  all  mighty  persevering. 

"He  was  a  great  hand  to  read.  That  was  dif- 
ferent from  all  the  rest  of  us,  and  from  his  own 
brother,  too,  for  we  never  read  if  we  could  help 
it.  He  used  even  to  take  books  with  him  when 
he  went  fishing.  He  would  sit  in  a  center-board 
skiff  and  fish  with  one  hand  and  turn  pages  with 
the  other,  using  rocks  for  paper-weights.  He 
used  to  read  history  and  books  about  travel  and 
exploration.  I  remember  him  reading  Cooper's 
novels  and  a  book  called  "Plutarch's  Lives."     I 

[39] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

wouldn't  be  surprised  if  that  was  the  foundation 
of  his  knowledge  and  education. 

"In  school  he  didn't  work  any  more  than  the 
other  boys,  but  he  grasped  things  quicker.  Al- 
though he  seemed  to  drift  along  just  the  way  the 
others  did,  he  outgrew  the  little  school  in  no  time, 
and  when  he  was  sixteen  he  started  going  to 
Pierce  Academy,  in  Middleboro,  fifteen  miles 
from  here.  He  went  up  every  morning  on  the 
train,  and  came  back  the  same  way  at  night. 

"Yes,  in  school  he  drifted  along  like  the  other 
boys,  but  when  the  time  came  for  him  to  do  some- 
thing, he  woke  up.  And  that  time  came  in  the 
spring  of  1880,  when  his  father  died." 

Leonard  Wood  had  decided  to  study  medicine, 
but  wanted  to  go  through  Harvard  College  first, 
his  father  having  convinced  him  that  it  would  be 
a  help  not  only  in  medical  school  but  ever 
afterwards.  But  when  he  lost  his  father  in  1880, 
a  shortage  of  funds  compelled  him  to  skip  col- 
lege and  go  direct  to  the  Harvard  Medical  School 
that  same  autumn. 

He  began  preparing  for  the  examination  under 
the  instruction  of  Miss  Haskell,  who  was  an  ex- 
ceptional woman  of  unusually  fine  character.  She 
was  thoroughly  grounded  in  classics,  modern  lan- 
guages and  mathematics,  and  had  been  the  head 
of  a  large  finishing  school,  but  found  herself 
unable  to  endure  the  strain  and  had  first  come  to 
Cape  Cod  to  recuperate,  afterwards  remaining 

[40] 


ANCESTRY  AND  BOYHOOD 

there  for  a  number  of  years.  She  boarded  that 
summer  with  Mrs.  Charles  Wood  so  that  she 
could  more  conveniently  tutor  Leonard.  Much 
to  everybody's  surprise  he  passed  the  entrance  ex- 
aminations and  stood  high,  although  most  of 
those  with  whom  he  competed  had  already  been 
through  college. 

He  left  Pocasset  when  he  was  nineteen,  with- 
out money,  without  friends  in  the  outside  world, 
with  no  influence,  and  with  only  the  limited  educa- 
tion he  had  been  able  to  secure  in  the  little  Pocas- 
set school  and  at  the  Middleboro  Academy,  which 
was  about  equal  to  the  high  schools  of  to-day. 

He  started  with  no  capital  except  a  good  con- 
stitution built  up  by  living  outdoors  around  Cape 
Cod,  a  strong  character  which  he  inherited  from 
his  parents,  and  the  memory  of  the  beautiful 
home  life  with  his  father  and  mother. 


[41] 


CHAPTER  II 

PERSONAL   CHARACTERISTICS 

Leonard  Wood  was  fifty-nine  years  old  on  the 
ninth  day  of  October,  1919.  He  is  five  feet, 
eleven  inches  tall,  weighs  195  pounds  and  has  a 
44-inch  chest.  His  health  is  in  every  way  per- 
fect. Throughout  his  life  he  has  never  met  a  man 
of  his  own  age,  and  few  of  any  age,  whom  he 
could  not  outride  or  outwork,  and  this  is  as  true  of 
him  to-day  as  ever. 

The  Board  of  Army  Surgeons  which  gave  him 
his  physical  examination  when  he  returned  from 
France  in  1918,  stated  that  he  was  in  every  way 
fit  for  active  service  anywhere. 

Every  one  who  meets  Leonard  Wood  is  im- 
mediately impressed  by  his  extraordinary  phys- 
ical vigor.  He  seems  so  charged  with  surplus 
energy  that  one  easily  comprehends  how  he  was 
able  to  achieve  the  remarkable  feats  of  endur- 
ance recorded  of  him.  All  his  life  he  has  been 
devoted  to  sports  and  athletics  and  even  now 
enjoys  nothing  so  much  as  a  twenty-five-mile  ride 
or  a  day's  shooting  or  fishing.  When  he  was 
stationed  at  Monterey  in  1890  he  used  for  ex- 

[42] 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

ercise  to  run  around  the  soft  and  sandy  seventeen- 
mile  drive  and  held  the  record,  having  made  the 
distance  in  2  hours  and  12  minutes. 

While  in  command  of  the  Department  of  Min- 
danao he  decided  that  all  his  men  must  learn  to 
swim  75  yards  with  their  clothes  on,  and  50  yards 
with  full  equipment.  But  before  any  order  was 
issued  Wood  himself  accomplished  double  the  dis- 
tances prescribed,  and  moreover  before  making 
the  trial  thoroughly  soaked  the  equipment. 

When  he  was  stationed  at  Fort  McPherson, 
Georgia,  in  1896,  in  addition  to  his  regular  work 
as  an  army  surgeon  he  took  a  course  of  study  at 
the  Georgia  Institute  of  Technology,  and  while 
there  organized  and  coached  the  first  football 
team  the  Institute  ever  had.  His  team  in  its 
first  season  defeated  the  champions  of  the  South, 
and  lost  only  one  game  during  the  two  years  he 
was  its  captain.  Starting  with  that  impetus  and 
proud  of  its  initial  reputation  the  Georgia  Tech 
has  always  since  then  maintained  a  fine  football 
record. 

When  in  191 7  Wood  was  transferred  to  the 
command  of  the  Southeastern  Department,  his 
exploits  as  an  athlete  were  still  remembered 
throughout  that  section,  and  the  great  enthusiasm 
with  which  he  was  received  was  only  in  part  in- 
tended for  Wood  the  soldier,  as  a  portion  at  least 
was  a  tribute  to  Wood  the  athlete  who  had 
years  before  brought  honor  to  Georgia  Tech. 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  he  was  entertained  in 

[43] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Macon  at  a  banquet  given  in  his  honor.  The 
toastmaster  closed  his  remarks  by  saying,  "You 
have  now  heard  me  throw  a  lot  of  bouquets  at 
General  Wood,  but  the  last  time  I  saw  him  was 
after  a  hotly  contested  football  game,  in  which 
he  defeated  my  team,  and  I  was  then  throwing 
bricks  at  him." 

Shortly  after  this  banquet,  he  visited  the  town 
of  Athens  in  order  to  address  a  mass  meeting, 
traveling  there  and  back  in  the  private  car  of  the 
president  of  the  railroad.  He  was  reminded  that 
the  last  time  he  left  Athens,  in  1897,  he  rode  in 
a  freight  car  to  escape  a  mob  of  local  football 
enthusiasts  who  were  hunting  his  scalp. 

At  the  end  of  another  game  which  he  had 
refereed  in  the  early  nineties,  the  captain  of  the 
losing  team  said  to  him,  "The  next  time  I  see  you 
I  am  going  to  knock  your  damned  white  head 
off." 

Ten  years  later,  after  Wood  had  become  Ma- 
jor-General in  the  Regular  Service,  he  was  in- 
specting a  one-company  post  in  a  small  island 
south  of  Sulu  in  the  Philippines.  When  he 
reached  the  Lieutenant  in  command,  he  imme- 
diately recognized  him  as  the  once  belligerent 
football  captain  of  the  defeated  Georgia  team, 

and  said,  "Now  is  your  chance  Mr. ."    The 

embarrassed  Lieutenant  later  confessed  that  he 
had  long  since  altered  his  views  on  reprisals, 
and  that  from  the  time  he  learned  General  Wood 
Was  coming  to  inspect  his  command  his  one  prayer 

[44] 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

had  been  that  the  General  might  fail  to  recognize 
him. 


Leonard  Wood  is  an  Episcopalian. 

Leonard  Wood's  directness  and  democratic 
lack  of  formality,  his  complete  modesty  and  sim- 
plicity are  among  the  most  striking  and  attractive 
traits  of  his  temperament. 

He  is  always  approachable  and  has  a  happy 
knack  of  getting  on  harmoniously  with  diverse 
kinds  of  humans.  He  possesses  the  rare  gift  of 
looking  a  man  in  the  eye,  telling  him  a  disagree- 
able truth,  and  afterward  being  better  friends 
with  him  than  ever. 

He  has  never  tolerated  for  himself  any  ret- 
inues or  guards  of  honor,  even  in  tropical  coun- 
tries where  they  have  for  centuries  been  the  uni- 
versal setting  for  every  man  in  authority.  When- 
ever he  has  governed  provinces  he  has  not  affected 
pomp,  ceremony  or  circumstance,  but  has  gone 
quite  to  the  other  extreme. 

In  Santiago  General  Wood  lived  in  the  utmost 
simplicity,  in  striking  contrast  to  the  splendid 
luxury  of  his  Spanish  predecessors.  He  occupied 
a  thatch-roofed  country  house,  a  mile  out  of  town, 
which  had  previously  belonged  to  the  British 
Consul.  Accompanied  only  by  a  single  mounted 
orderly  he  rode  each  morning  to  his  office,  Which 
was  a  single  bare  room  at  the  back  of  the  Spanish 
Governor's  old  palace.    His  personal  dignity  and 

[45] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

power  are  too  great  to  need  reenforcement  by- 
artificial  means. 

He  has  no  pride  of  opinion  nor  any  trace  of 
that  extreme  rigidity  of  conviction  which  makes 
a  man  intolerant  of  advice.  He  is  always  willing 
to  give  his  open-minded  attention  to  the  views  of 
others,  even  those  of  his  least  important  sub- 
ordinates. 

Colonel  Halstead  Dorey,  who  when  a  Captain 
in  1903  served  as  an  aide  to  General  Wood,  tells 
of  his  first  impressions  of  his  commander. 

"I  joined  General  Wood  in  Mindanao,  at  a 
time  when  there  was  trouble  brewing  with  the 
Sultan  of  Sulu.  Captain  McCoy,  who  was  also 
an  aide,  had  already  been  with  him  for  four  years. 
The  first  day  I  was  on  duty  the  question  of  the 
status  of  the  Sultan  came  up  for  discussion,  and 
McCoy  expressed  to  the  general  very  positive 
opinions  as  to  how  the  Sultan  should  be  handled 
—opinions  which  varied  greatly  from  those  held 
by  the  General,  who  nevertheless  gave  them  his 
full  consideration. 

"Such  a  hot  argument  ensued  that  I  fully  ex- 
pected McCoy  to  be  placed  under  arrest  and  tried 
for  insubordination. 

"To  my  surprise,  however,  the  general  not  only 
listened  patiently  to  all  that  McCoy  had  to  say, 
but  even  adopted  several  of  his  suggestions. 

"I  quickly  learned  that  the  General  always  ex- 
pected his  staff  officers  to  express  their  opinions 
freely.    He  will  patiently  listen,  and  if  convinced 

[46] 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

that  their  ideas  are  correct,  is  always  willing  to 
alter  his  own  tentative  plans. 

"In  discussing  an  old  officer  who  had  just  been 
retired  for  age,  and  who  made  it  his  boast  that  he 
had  never  changed  an  order  after  he  had  once 
issued  it,  the  General  remarked  that,  while  need- 
less vacillation  should  be  avoided,  any  man  who 
was  such  an  egotist  as  to  count  himself  infallible, 
and  therefore  never  considered  it  necessary  to 
change  an  order,  even  if  unforeseen  conditions 
arose,  should  never  have  been  commissioned, 
much  less  permitted  to  remain  in  the  service  until 
he  was  retired  for  age." 

The  author  once  asked  General  Wood  his  rules 
of  life.  He  replied: — "Always  volunteer,  no  mat- 
ter how  dangerous  or  unpromising  the  task. 

"Once  you  have  volunteered,  never  stop  fight- 
ing. Do  things,  and  don't  talk  about  them.  Dur- 
ing the  process  you  are  likely  to  discover  oppor- 
tunity; eventually  you  can  win  through  to  suc- 
cess." His  face  widened  out  into  its  characteris- 
tic aggressive  smile,  "and  then  you  will  have  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  un-enterprising  men  who 
would  never  take  a  chance  allude  to  your  achieve- 
ments as  due  solely  to  luck  and  influence." 

The  opportunities  which  he  has  most  eagerly 
sought  have  been  those  which  involved  patriotic 
service  to  his  country,  for  Leonard  Wood's  most 
dominant  moral  characteristic  is  his  courageous, 
whole-souled  devotion  to  the  ideals  of  American- 
ism,. 

[47] 


CHAPTER  III 

AS  A  SURGEON 

Leonard  Wood  supported  himself  through  the 
four  years  of  his  course  at  the  Harvard  Medical 
School  in  the  spring  of  1884,  and  upon  gradua- 
tion won  an  appointment  as  interne  at  the  Boston 
City  Hospital  in  a  competitive  examination,  in 
which  he  stood  third  among  more  than  a  score 
of  contestants. 

He  did  not  complete  his  course,  however,  be- 
cause of  an  unfortunate  incident  which  occurred 
early  in  his  hospital  experience.  According  to 
rule  an  interne  was  not  allowed  to  perform  an 
operation,  but  was  required  to  summon  the  visit- 
ing surgeon  whenever  it  was  necessary.  One 
day  the  ambulance  brought  in  an  injured  child, 
whose  life  depended  upon  immediate  operation; 
but  the  visiting  surgeon  was  not  available.  Wood 
deliberated  for  a  few  moments  and  then  decided 
that  the  right  thing  was  to  operate  at  once ;  this 
he  had  the  courage  to  do,  regardless  of  the  con- 
sequences to  himself,  and  thereby  saved  the 
child's  life. 

Later  the  visiting  surgeon  walked  into  the 
ward,  and  when  he  learned  what  had  happened 

[48] 


AS  A  SURGEON 

in  his  absence,  he  flew  into  a  rage  and  demanded 
an  explanation  of  Wood,  who  answered,  "If  the 
child's  life  was  to  be  saved  there  was  no  time  to 
lose  and  it  was  necessary  to  operate  at  once.  No 
one  else  was  at  hand  and  therefore  I  assumed  the 
responsibility/'  The  visiting  surgeon  on  that 
ground  preferred  charges  against  Wood  and  he 
was  suspended  and  ultimately  dismissed  from  the 
hospital. 

When  he  left  the  City  Hospital,  he  es- 
tablished himself  in  a  tiny  office  in  Stamford 
Street,  in  what  was  then  one  of  the  poor- 
est quarters  of  the  city.  He  supplemented  the 
meager  pay  which  he  received  from  his  poverty- 
stricken  patients  by  tutoring  and  by  working  in 
the  nearest  public  dispensary. 

He  often  recalls  with  great  interest  his  experi- 
ences of  that  time,  and  the  gratitude  which  the 
individual  tenement  dwellers  showed  for  his 
services, — a  gratitude  in  strong  contrast  to  their 
distaste  and  dislike  for  ordinary  charity  workers. 

One  dark  night  he  was  stopped  on  a  street  cor- 
ner by  a  gang  of  thugs.  "Wait  a  minute,  Bo," 
they  said;  "who  are  you?"  "I  am  the  dispensary 
doctor,"  replied  Wood.  "Oh,  that's  different," 
they  answered  affably.  "We're  sorry  to  have 
bothered  you." 

His  experience  in  the  slums  of  Boston  was 
among  the  most  valuable  and  developmental  of 
his  entire  life,  since  it  early  brought  him  into 
personal  contact  with  the  hopelessly  poor,  and 

[49] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

with  their  sufferings  and  needs.  He  came  into 
touch  with  those  whose  entire  effort  is  directed 
not  toward  winning  to-morrow's  bread,  but  is 
concentrated  upon  seeking  bread  for  to-day. 

The  sympathy,  compassion  and  understanding 
which  in  later  life  he  invariably  showed  towards 
the  millions  of  submerged  people,  over  whom  he 
at  one  time  or  another  ruled,  and  his  infinite  pa- 
tience with  them  in  their  struggles  and  mistakes, 
are  founded  upon  the  first-hand  knowledge  which 
he  gained  during  his  service  in  the  slums  of  Bos- 
ton. 

In  the  spring  of  1885  he  took  the  competitive 
examination  for  the  position  of  Assistant-Sur- 
geon in  the  army,  ranked  second  in  a  class  of 
fifty-nine,  and  was  promptly  accepted. 

He  volunteered  for  immediate  service  in  the 
far  west,  and  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  Fort 
Huachuca,  Arizona. 

In  speaking  of  his  entrance  into  the  Army, 
General  Wood  says:  "While  deeply  interested 
in  medicine  and  surgery,  it  was  always  my  desire 
to  gain  active  service  in  the  line,  and  from  the 
moment  I  arrived  in  Arizona  and  reported  for 
duty,  I  took  up  systematically  work  looking  to- 
wards such  service.  I  never  lost  an  opportunity 
for  combat  assignment,  no  matter  what  the  tem- 
porary disadvantages.  It  was  this  course  of  ac- 
tion which  led  ultimately  to  recommendations  by 
Generals  Lawton,  Graham,  Miles,  Forsythe  and 

[So] 


AS  A  SURGEON 

others  that  I  be  given  the  Colonelcy  of  a  volunteer 
regiment  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  War." 

In  Arizona  and  New  Mexico,  in  addition  to 
his  service  as  a  surgeon,  he  also  performed  the 
functions  of  a  combat  officer.  A  detailed  ac- 
count of  this  service  is  given  in  the  next  chapter. 

After  two  years'  arduous  service  he  was  as- 
signed to  duty  in  Southern  California. 

It  was  at  Los  Angeles  that  Major-General 
Miles,  the  Department  Commander,  was  thrown 
from  his  horse  and  badly  injured,  his  leg  being 
broken  and  crushed.  The  first  surgeons  to  be 
called  in  recommended  that  the  leg  be  amputated, 
which  would  have  terminated  the  military  career 
of  the  officer  who  was,  at  that  time,  America's 
leading  soldier  in  active  service. 

General  Miles  refused  to  consider  this  diag- 
nosis as  final  until  he  had  sent  for  Captain  Wood, 
whose  reputation  as  a  surgeon  was  already  fa- 
vorably known  to  him.  In  spite  of  the  adverse 
judgment  of  his  seniors,  Wood,  after  a  care- 
ful examination,  stated  that  he  could  save  the 
leg.  Thereupon  Miles  placed  himself  under  the 
exclusive  care  of  the  young  surgeon,  who  was  as 
good  as  his  word,  for  he  set  the  shattered  bones 
and  readjusted  the  torn  ligaments  and  tendons 
so  skillfully  that  the  General  completely  recov- 
ered the  use  of  his  leg,  was  able  to  walk  without 
even  the  slightest  limp,  and  continued  to  serve 
his  country  for  nearly  fifteen  years. 

At  Monterey  Leonard  Wood  met  Louise  A. 

[so 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Condit-Smith,  to  whom  he  became  engaged  and 
to  whom  he  was  married  in  1890. 

The  avoidance  of  unnecessary  publicity,  which 
has  characterized  General  Wood  throughout  his 
whole  career,  has  beenx  dictated  not  only  by  the 
unwritten  laws  of  our  military  service,  but  was 
reen  forced  by  his  distaste  for  injecting  his  per- 
sonal affairs  into  the  record  of  his  public  services. 

This  reticence  with  regard  to  himself  has  been 
intensified  whenever  it  touched  his  family. 

In  this  reserve  he  shows  the  same  fine  instinct 
which  always  actuated  Theodore  Roosevelt.  No 
man  in  the  history  of  America  ever  appeared 
more  often  in  the  daily  press  and  current  litera- 
ture than  he,  but  no  wife  of  any  popular  hero 
figured  so  seldom  in  public  print  as  Mrs.  Roose- 
velt. The  powerful  personal  influence  she  radi- 
ated from  their  strenuous  home  center  was  im- 
mediately apparent  to  any  one  who  crossed  its 
threshold — but  into  its  sacred  precinct  the  news- 
paper reporter  in  his  official  capacity  was  never 
allowed  to  intrude. 

Leonard  Wood  has  been  similarly  scrupulous 
in  maintaining  the  distinction  between  his  public 
and  his  private  affairs.  Only  personal  friends 
realize  how  the  dignity,  simplicity  and  harmony 
of  his  family  life,  which  presupposes  an  able,  dis- 
creet and  sympathetic  helpmate,  have  augmented 
his  usefulness  to  his  country. 

Mrs.  Wood  is  the  daughter  of  Colonel  John 
Condit-Smith,  who  served  in  the  Civil  War  on 

[52] 


AS  A  SURGEON 

General  Sherman's  staff,  but  who  died  several 
years  before  her  marriage  to  General  Wood. 

General  Wood's  three  children  already  give 
promise  that  they  will  carry  on  the  honorable  and 
patriotic  records  of  their  ancestral  lines. 

Subsequent  to  his  marriage  he  served  for  sev- 
eral years  as  surgeon  at  Fort  McPherson  in  Geor- 
gia, and  in  the  autumn  of  1895  he  was  ordered  to 
duty  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

*"To  an  army  surgeon  Washington  is  a  place 
full  of  possibilities  of  honor,  but  also  a  place  of 
much  hard  work.  He  must  attend  as  medical 
advisor  all  active  and  retired  officers  of  the  army 
and  their  families;  he  is  official  physician  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  he  shares  with  a  navy 
surgeon  the  responsibility  of  attending  the  Presi- 
dent. *  *  *  It  was  not  long  before  he  became 
a  frequent  visitor  to  President  Cleveland  and  his 
family.  And  here  in  the  White  House,  as  on  the 
plains,  he  won  friends. 

"When  the  administration  changed  and  Presi- 
dent McKinley  came  into  power,  Dr.  Bates  of  the 
navy  was  for  six  months,  until  his  death,  attend- 
ing surgeon  at  the  White  House.  One  night,  in 
the  fall  of  1897,  Wood  received  a  summons  from 
the  President,  and  from  that  time  forward  he 
was  the  regular  medical  adviser  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
McKinley,  as  he  was  already  attendant  on  Gen- 
eral Alger,  the  Secretary  of  War. 

"It  was  about  this  time  that  he  met  Theodore 

*  By  Ray  Stannard  Baker — McClure's — February,  1900. 

[53] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Roosevelt,  then  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
They  were  guests  at  dinner  with  the  Lowndes 
family,  and  they  walked  home  together  in  the  eve- 
ning. Their  friendship  was  instant.  Both  were 
men  of  extraordinary  vitality  and  activity.  Both 
loved  hunting,  fishing,  sailing,  and  all  the  vigor- 
ous outdoor  sports  which  do  so  much  toward 
making  good  men.  Both  knew  the  wild  West; 
both  were  born  with  the  blood  of  fighters  hot  with- 
in them.  In  each  of  them  was  bred  the  best  of 
American  traditions — for  Roosevelt  had  come 
from  the  ancient  Dutch  stock  of  Manhattan  and 
Wood  was  from  the  oldest  blood  of  New  Eng- 
land. And,  more  than  anything  else,  both  were 
men  of  high  ideals  and  splendid  ambitions. 

"Straightway  the  two  young  Americans,  not 
so  famous  then  as  they  were  soon  to  be,  were 
tramping  together  in  the  country,  each  walking 
at  a  gait  to  outdo  the  other  and  each  pretending 
that  he  was  doing  nothing  at  all  unusual." 

The  eighteen  years  of  his  life,  from  1880- 
1898,  which  Wood  devoted  to  the  study  and  prac- 
tice of  the  profession  of  surgery  were  not  only 
of  great  value  to  him  from  an  educational  and 
developmental  standpoint,  but  gave  him  a  knowl- 
edge of  medicine  which  was  of  constant  use  to 
him  in  later  years  and  of  much  value  to  the  peo- 
ple he  governed. 

It  made  possible  his  sanitary  reforms  in  Cuba 
and  in  the  Philippines,  his  work  in  conquering 
yellow  fever,  his  intelligent  support  of  the  fight 

[54] 


AS  A  SURGEON 

against  leprosy  and  beri-beri  in  the  Philippines, 
his  improvement  of  the  health  of  the  troops  of 
his  commands  and  of  the  civilian  populations 
among  which  they  lived. 


[55] 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  GERONIMO  CAMPAIGN 

On  the  evening  of  July  4th,  1885,  at  Fort 
Huachuca  in  Arizona,  a  few  miles  north  of  the 
Mexican  border,  Assistant-Surgeon  Leonard 
Wood  reported  for  duty  to  General  Crook,  the 
noted  Indian  fighter. 

The  infamous  Apache  chief,  Geronimo,  and  his 
band  of  renegade  Indians,  had  already  been  con- 
stantly on  the  war-path  for  two  years,  spreading 
terror  and  devastation  all  along  our  southwestern 
border. 

On  the  evening  of  his  arrival,  Wood  learned 
that  Captain  H.  W.  Lawton  (later  to  become 
famous  as  Major-General  Lawton)  was  at  the 
Fort  and  was  to  leave  early  the  next  morning, 
July  5th,  in  command  of  a  carefully  prepared  ex- 
pedition against  Geronimo. 

Although  no  one  fully  foresaw  the  hardships, 
sufferings  and  dangers  which  this  expedition 
would  have  to  endure  for  nearly  two  years,  it 
was  nevertheless  evident  that  the  affair  would  be 
far  from  a  picnic,  and  few  cared  to  join  Lawton 
if  honorably  they  could  avoid  it. 

[56] 


THE  GERONIMO  CAMPAIGN 

It  was  necessary  that  the  personnel  of  the  ex- 
pedition should  include  a  surgeon,  and  Wood, 
true  to  his  lifelong  motto  always  to  volunteer, 
no  matter  how  dangerous  or  unpromising  the 
task,  sought  Lawton  and  persuaded  that  leader 
to  accept  him  as  surgeon  in  spite  of  his 
youth  and  comparative  lack  of  experience.  He 
spent  the  night  making  the  necessary  prepara- 
tions and  left  with  Lawton  the  next  morning,  rid- 
ing the  only  available  horse,  a  vicious  unbroken 
bronco  which  every  one  else  had  "passed  up,"  but 
which  Wood,  being  the  last  comer,  was  obliged  to 
accept. 

This  was  his  first  experience  in  horsemanship, 
for  the  boyhood  occupations  of  Cape  Cod  had 
not  included  equitation,  and  in  the  Harvard  Med- 
ical School  he  had  been  unable  to  afford  riding  as 
a  recreation.  He  mastered  the  bronco,  however, 
in  spite  of  several  unpleasant  incidents.  The  first 
day's  march  covered  thirty  miles  through  the 
overwhelming  summer  heat  of  the  Arizona  desert, 
and  for  six  consecutive  days  he  was  in  the  saddle. 
It  was  not  until  the  seventh  day  that  the  troops 
halted  for  their  first  rest. 

Lawton's  expedition  had  been  in  process  of 
preparation  for  six  months.  As  events  turned 
out  it  was  to  conduct  not  only  the  most  notable 
Indian  Campaign  since  the  Custer  massacre,  but 
was  to  write  the  concluding  chapter  in  that  long 
history  of  warfare  with  the  Redman,  which  had 
begun  with  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  and  had 

[57] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

continued  almost  without  interruption  for  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years. 

During  those  centuries,  America's  frontier  of 
civilization,  at  first  defined  by  the  forest-edge 
surrounding  the  little  town  of  Plymouth,  had 
gradually  been  pushed  back  step  by  step.  Dur- 
ing the  seventeenth  century,  it  extended  itself 
laterally  north  and  south  along  the  coast  from 
Salem  to  Charleston,  but  remained  within  sight 
of  the  sea.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  through 
the  period  of  the  French  and  Indian  Wars,  it 
was  pushed  back  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Mo- 
hawk and  the  Susquehanna.  In  the  early  nine- 
teenth century  the  bitter  fighting  on  the  "Bloody 
Ground"  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  forced  it 
definitely  beyond  the  Alleghenies,  and  by  the  mid- 
dle of  the  last  century  it  had  in  the  Northwest 
been  thrust  westward  to  the  Pacific,  and  in  the 
Southwest  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  until  in  1885 
the  last  remaining  corner  of  savage  country 
was  the  section  north  of  Mexico  in  the  territories 
of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona. 

Since  1620  civilization  had  marched  steadily 
forward,  conquering  in  turn  the  Narragansetts 
of  Cape  Cod,  the  Pequots  and  Wampanoags  of 
New  England,  the  Iroquois  Five  Nations  who 
once  possessed  all  the  country  east  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies, the  Algonquins  of  the  Ohio  Valley, 
the  Seminoles  of  the  South,  and  the  Sioux, 
Arapahoes  and  Dakotas  of  the  plains. 

Indian  chieftains  had  succeeded  each  other  in 

[58] 


THE  GERONIMO  CAMPAIGN 

the  losing  fight  of  savagery  and  had  left  their 
names  upon  the  pages  of  American  history; 
Peksuot,  whom  Captain  Myles  Standish  killed 
with  his  own  hand;  King  Philip,  who  brought 
death  and  destruction  to  the  New  England  Col- 
onies; Pontiac,  whose  conspiracy  in  1763  just 
failed  to  destroy  the  settlers  of  New  York;  Queen 
Aliquiopa,  to  whom  Major  George  Washington 
was  once  sent  as  an  emissary;  Black  Hawk, 
against  whom  Abraham  Lincoln  served  as  an  of- 
ficer of  Militia  in  1832;  and  Sitting  Bull,  who 
commanded  the  Indians  at  the  massacre  of  the 
Seventh  Cavalry  on  the  Little  Bighorn. 

The  long  record  was  at  last  drawing  to  a  close ; 
the  final  chapter  had  been  reached.  Amid  the 
scorching  deserts  and  barren  mountains  which 
constituted  the  last  vestige  of  their  lost  empire, 
the  one  still  unconquered  Indian  tribe,  the 
Apaches,  stood  at  bay  preferring  death  to  sub- 
mission, and  fighting  with  the  aggressive,  bitter 
courage  of  despair.  Geronimo,  the  last  Indian 
to  make  a  name  as  a  leader  of  his  people,  fought 
like  a  cornered  wolf  and  waged  war  after  his 
own  lights,  by  torture,  by  stealthy  ambush  and 
sudden  massacre. 

He  was  the  descendent  of  a  long  line  of  Indian 
leaders  who,  generation  after  generation,  had 
opposed  the  onward  march  of  civilization.  He 
was  to  find  among  his  enemies  at  least  one  white 
officer  whose  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors  had  fought 
even  more  steadfastly  for  its  advancement. 

[59] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Ever  since  1620  when  Wood's  forbears  landed 
from  the  Mayflower  to  select  a  suitable  site  for 
the  new  colony,  and  fought  in  the  famous  First 
Encounter  with  the  Indians,  and  since  1675,  when 
Samuel  Wood  served  in  the  war  against  King 
Philip  and  had  his  house  at  Groton  burned  to  the 
ground  by  the  enemy,  ancestors  of  Wood,  from 
decade  to  decade,  participated  as  combatants  in 
all  our  Indian  wars.  In  the  Apache  War 
which  we  are  now  considering  Leonard  Wood 
was  to  become  second  in  command  of  the  white 
forces. 

As  he  rode  out  from  Fort  Huachuca,  Wood 
questioned  his  companions  as  to  the  record  of  the 
savages  they  were  pursuing.  He  learned  that 
Geronimo's  Apaches  had  already  killed  eight  hun- 
dred white  men,  women  and  children  and  had 
spread  terror  over  the  entire  Southwest.  Geron- 
imo  himself  had  killed  ninety-nine  white  people 
with  his  own  hand. 

His  savages  were  so  stealthy  that  their  victims 
never  had  the  slightest  chance  to  defend  them- 
selves, but  were  either  massacred  from  ambush  or 
captured  by  cunning  ruses.  To  be  captured  by 
Geronimo  was  the  most  terrible  of  fates,  for 
the  prisoner  was  invariably  tortured  to  death 
with  unspeakable  agonies  which  were  frequently 
prolonged  for  days.  The  first  step  was  to  skin 
the  victim  alive  and  the  last  was  not  infrequently 
to  cook  him  alive  over  red  hot  stones. 

tThe   Apaches   possessed   most   extraordinary 

[60] 


THE  GERONIMO  CAMPAIGN 

endurance,  and  were  familiar  with  every  inch  of 
the  country  in  which  they  operated.  When  pur- 
sued, they  stole  horses,  rode  them  to  death,  ate 
their  flesh  and  then  continued  on  foot  over  al- 
most impassable  mountain  ranges  at  a  rate  which 
well-nigh  defied  pursuit. 

Lawton  nevertheless  pressed  forward  relent- 
lessly. He  began  by  garrisoning  all  the  best 
water-holes  along  the  southern  border  of  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona,  thus  somewhat  restricting 
the  Indians'  zone  of  activity.  At  the  same  time, 
mobile  forces  pursued  them  relentlessly,  basing 
their  operations  upon  the  garrisons  at  the  water- 
holes. 

Weeks  grew  into  months.  During  the  first 
month  Lawton's  men  rode  more  than  five  hun- 
dred miles  through  the  mid-summer  heat  of  the 
desert,  which  often  reached  125  degrees  in  the 
shade.  Their  horses  died  of  exhaustion  and  were 
replaced  by  others.  Men  grew  sick  or  were  in- 
jured and  new  soldiers  took  their  places. 

On  one  occasion,  when  a  body  of  two  hundred 
Indians  were  on  the  run  and  there  seemed  a 
chance  of  overtaking  them,  an  advance  guard 
of  fifty  picked  men  marched  almost  constantly  on 
foot  for  seven  days,  through  a  country  so  rough 
and  precipitous  as  to  be  impassable  for  cavalry 
or  even  for  pack  trains.  They  subsisted  on  a 
dead  mule  and  two  deer  which  were  killed  by 
their  scouts,  the  meat  being  eaten  without  salt. 
Their  efforts  were  crippled  by  the  worthless  shoes 

[61] ' 


LEONARD  WOOD 

which  had  been  manufactured  by  the  military 
prisoners  at  Leavenworth.  After  three  or  four 
days'  marching  these  shoes  fell  apart  and  left 
their  feet  to  be  cut  to  pieces  by  the  jagged  rocks 
over  which  they  advanced. 

Month  after  month  the  dreary  grinding  chase 
continued.  Officers  broke  down,  were  taken  sick, 
or  died  of  exhaustion.  After  six  months,  Lawton 
and  Wood  were  the  only  officers  whose  deter- 
mination and  physique  had  been  sufficient  to  keep 
them  constantly  at  work,  and  who  had  not  had 
to  be  replaced  by  fresher  men. 

This  pursuit  is  probably  the  most  epic  of  its 
kind  in  all  history.  It  far  surpasses  even  the 
most  classic  performances  of  the  Royal  North- 
western Mounted  Police  of  Canada,  whose  code 
is  never  to  relinquish  a  trail,  even  though  it  lasts 
for  years  and  leads  them  around  the  world. 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  in  speaking  of  the  Geron- 
imo  Campaign,  said: — "No  one  who  has  not 
lived  in  the  West  can  appreciate  the  incredible, 
the  extraordinary  fatigue  and  hardship  attendant 
upon  this  campaign.  There  was  not  much  fight- 
ing, but  what  there  was,  was  of  an  exceedingly 
dangerous  type;  and  the  severity  of  the  marches 
through  the  waterless  mountains  of  Arizona, 
New  Mexico  and  the  northern  regions  of  old 
Mexico,  whither  the  Apache  bands  finally  re- 
treated, was  such  that  only  men  of  iron  could 
stand  them." 

Sometimes  the  pursuit  passed  over  mountain 

[62] 


THE  GERONIMO  CAMPAIGN 

ranges  ten  thousand  feet  high;  at  other  periods 
it  led  across  the  Mohave  desert,  the  hottest  and 
most  desolate  piece  of  land  in  all  the  world,  whose 
floor  in  one  place,  Death's  Valley,  is  three  hun- 
dred feet  below  sea-level. 

It  seemed  to  the  pursuers  as  if  Geronimo  and 
his'  band  were  gifted  with  supernatural  powers. 
As  month  after  month  dragged  by  and  thousands 
of  miles  passed  beneath  the  weary  feet  of  the 
soldiers,  they  felt  as  if  they  were  struggling  for- 
ward through  a  Dante's  inferno,  bent  upon  a 
hopeless  task.  Men  burned  themselves  out  with 
fatigue  and  many  actually  died  from  exhaustion. 
Discouragement  overtook  all  except  Lawton  and 
Wood,  whose  valiant  and  determined  spirits 
burned  ever  clearly. 

In  March,  1886,  when  the  chase  had  already 
lasted  a  little  over  eight  months,  Wood  was 
placed  in  command  of  all  the  infantry  and  a  part 
of  the  friendly  Indian  Scouts ;  a  position  which  he 
maintained  to  the  end.  He  was  preeminently  fitted 
for  this  responsibility,  and  there  could  be  no  valid 
reason  why  a  surgeon,  who  was  interested  in  mili- 
tary tactics,  and  who  was  a  born  leader  of  men, 
should  not  serve  as  a  combat  officer  in  a  campaign 
against  savages  who  observed  none  of  the  rules 
of  war  and  who  in  fact  had  never  even  heard  of 
them. 

In  such  an  emergency,  it  was  of  vital  im- 
portance to  place  in  authority  the  man  by  nature 
best  fitted  to  command,  irrespective  of  his  acci- 

[63] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

dental  position;  and  it  had  become  evident  to 
Lawton  that  Wood  was  the  very  one  for  the  task. 
In  later  years  the  generous  Lawton  said:  "It 
was  mainly  due  to  Captain  Wood's  loyalty  and 
resolution  that  the  expedition  was  successful.,, 

When  the  chase  had  lasted  uninterruptedly  for 
a  year,  the  Americans  had  developed  a  system  of 
relays;  units  on  Geronimo's  trail  were,  on  the 
march,  regularly  relieved  by  fresher  forces. 

Lawton  and  Wood  were  the  coordinating  ele- 
ments. They  worked  incessantly,  never  leaving 
the  field. 

Wood  was  dauntless  in  conquering  his  fatigue. 
Once  while  sleeping  on  the  bare  ground,  a 
tarantula  climbed  into  his  clothing  and  when  he 
awoke  and  disturbed  it,  it  stung  him.  In  many 
men  this  would  have  resulted  in  death,  but  Wood 
continued  the  march  on  foot  for  two  days,  suffer- 
ing dreadful  agony,  until  he  fell  delirious  and  had 
to  be  restrained  by  his  men  from  running  into 
the  mountains  where  lurking  Indians  might  have 
captured  and  tortured  him  to  death. 

The  Apaches  retreated  craftily,  watching  every 
chance  to  cut  off  outposts,  messengers  or  strag- 
glers who  might  become  detached  from  the  main 
body.  Lawton's  forces  constantly  followed  them 
up,  seeking  for  a  decisive  engagement,  pushing 
forward  carefully,  ever  on  the  alert  for  ambush, 
never  for  a  moment  able  to  relax  their  vigilance. 

Sometimes  for  a  month  or  six  weeks  the  In- 
dians would  feign  inactivity  and  would  avoid 

[64] 


GEROXIMO.   WAR   CHIEF   OF   THE   APACHES 

He  killed  99  white  people  with  his  own  hand. 


64] 


LEONARD   WOOD,  AT  THE   TIME  OF   THE   GERONIMO   CAMPAIGN 


THE  GERONIMO  CAMPAIGN 

every  contact ;  then  suddenly  attack  some  isolated 
ranch-house  or  outpost  at  the  most  unexpected 
moment  and  under  conditions  most  disadvan- 
tageous for  the  whites.  At  other  times  they 
would  maintain  a  constant  guerilla  warfare, 
while  cleverly  avoiding  a  battle  in  which  any  con- 
siderable number  of  Indians  could  be  engaged. 

It  was  at  times  like  these  that  Wood  repeatedly 
left  the  expedition,  alone,  to  carry  messages  for 
reinforcements  or  to  communicate  with  bases 
of  supply.  One  day  when  the  expedition  was  in 
the  burning  desert  and  had  already  made  a 
march  of  twenty-five  miles,  it  became  necessary 
for  Lawton  to  send  a  message  to  another  force 
nearly  thirty-five  miles  away.  On  several  previous 
occasions  his  messengers  had  been  cut  off  and 
captured  by  the  watching  Apaches.  Wood  vol- 
unteered to  undertake  the  trip  and  left  the  camp 
as  soon  as  darkness  had  set  in.  He  made  his  way 
thirty-five  miles  through  a  country  infested  with 
Indians  and  almost  devoid  of  cover,  delivered  his 
message  at  two  in  the  morning,  departed  almost 
immediately  with  the  answer,  and  completed  the 
return  journey  before  eight  o'clock  the  same 
morning,  making  a  distance  of  nearly  seventy 
miles  during  the -hours  of  darkness.  He  then 
resumed  his  command  and,  without  any  chance 
for  rest,  completed  the  next  day's  advance  on  foot, 
a  forced  march  of  more  than  thirty  miles,  thus 
covering  nearly  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles 

[65] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

in  thirty-six  hours,  without  sleep  and  through  a 
rough  and  dangerous  country. 

The  campaign  had  lasted  nearly  eighteen 
months  before  the  troops  were  finally  able  to  close 
with  the  Indians  in  any  decisive  engagement. 
Lawton's  scouts  at  last  succeeded  in  locating  the 
camp  of  the  Apaches,  at  a  time  when  all  the  vari- 
ous elements  of  the  warring  tribes  had  united  in 
one  place.  A  carefully  conducted  forced  march,  of 
a  type  which  had  already  failed  a  hundred  times, 
was  tried  for  the  one  hundred  and  first  time 
and  succeeded.  This  happened  on  the  Yaqui 
River  in  the  district  of  Montezuma.  The  In- 
dians for  once  had  no  warning  of  the  impending 
attack  until  the  very  last  moment,  and  the  braves 
escaped  into  the  rocks  with  only  what  they  at 
the  moment  happened  to  have  on  their  backs, 
many  of  them  being  forced  to  abandon  even  their 
firearms.  Their  equipment  and  tepees,  their  am- 
munition and  horses  were  all  captured. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  end,  for  this  de- 
feat of  the  Apaches  occurred  in  the  most  barren 
and  uninhabited  part  of  Arizona,  where  it  was 
next  to  impossible  for  Geronimo  to  obtain  new 
arms  and  ammunition,  or  to  secure  fresh  mounts, 
and  where  even  game  was  exceedingly  scarce. 

The  Indians  nevertheless  fought  on  for 
months.  They  divided  into  small  bands  which 
had  separately  to  be  pursued  but  which  could  be 
united  by  Geronimo  whenever  he  planned  a  coun- 
ter-attack.    Even  in  this  most  desolate  desert, 

j[66] 


THE  GERONIMO  CAMPAIGN 

short  of  arms  and  without  horses,  they  yet 
seemed  able  to  eke  out  an  existence,  subsisting  on 
cactus  leaves,  roots,  rats,  lizards,  and  snakes;  in 
the  emergency  nothing  came  amiss  to  their 
ostrich-like  digestions. 

The  inevitable  end,  however,  was  now  in  sight, 
for  even  the  iron  constitutions  and  fanatical  de- 
termination of  the  Apaches  could  not  forever 
hold  out  against  troops  working  in  relays  with  an 
endless  supply  of  men  to  replace  casualties,  co- 
ordinated and  directed  by  such  indomitable 
leaders. 

After  the  loss  of  their  horses  and  equipment, 
band  after  band  of  Indians  were  captured  until 
finally  in  April,  1887,  twenty-one  months  from 
the  beginning  of  the  campaign,  Geronimo  himself 
gave  up  the  fight  and  surrendered  with  all  his 
surviving  warriors. 

The  people  of  New  Mexico,  who  had  suffered 
for  years  from  the  murders  and  depredations  of 
Geronimo,  celebrated  his  capture  with  three 
weeks  of  festivities  at  Albuquerque,  given  in 
honor  of  the  men  who  had  run  him  down. 

Thus  ended  the  last  American  Indian  cam- 
paign. 

Wood  had  won  for  himself  a  reputation  as  a 
soldier,  not  only  in  the  regular  army,  but  with 
the  population  of  the  far  West  and  Southwest. 
His  name,  second  only  to  that  of  Lawton's,  was 
on  every  lip. 

Roosevelt  first  heard  of  him  at  this  time,  nearly 

[67] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

ten  years  before  they  ever  met.  Later,  in  com- 
menting upon  Wood's  part  in  the  campaign,  he 
said : 

"The  young  doctor,  tall,  broad-chested,  with 
his  light-yellow  hair  and  blue  eyes,  soon  showed 
the  stuff  of  which  he  was  made.  Hardly  any  of 
the  whites,  whether  soldiers  or  frontiersmen, 
could  last  with  him;  and  the  friendly  Indian 
trailers  themselves  could  not  wear  him  down.  .  .  . 

"On  expeditions  of  this  kind,  where  the  work 
is  so  exhausting  as  to  call  for  the  last  ounce  of 
reserve  strength  and  courage  in  the  man,  only 
a  very  high  type  of  officer  can  succeed.  Wood, 
however,  never  called  upon  his  men  to  do  any- 
thing that  he  himself  did  not  do.  They  ran  no 
risk  that  he  did  not  run;  they  endured  no  hard- 
ship which  he  did  not  endure ;  intolerable  fatigue, 
intolerable  thirst,  never-satisfied  hunger,  and  the 
strain  of  unending  watchfulness  against  the  most 
cruel  and  dangerous  of  foes;  through  all  this 
Wood  led  his  men  until  the  final  hour  of  signal 
success.  When  he  ended  the  campaign,  he  had 
won  the  high  regard  of  his  superior  officers  not 
merely  for  courage  and  endurance,  but  for  judg- 
ment and  entire  trustworthiness.  A  young  man 
who  is  high  of  heart,  clean  of  life,  incapable  of 
a  mean  or  ungenerous  action,  and  burning  with 
the  desire  to  honorably  distinguish  himself,  needs 
only  the  opportunity  in  order  to  do  good  work  for 
his  country.  .  .  ." 

Although  Wood  crowded  into  this  period  of 
[68] 


THE  GERONIMO  CAMPAIGN 

two  years  his  entire  experience  as  a  junior  line 
officer,  he  nevertheless  won  every  honor  in  the  gift 
of  his  subordinates  and  superiors.  He  received 
not  only  the  enthusiastic  devotion  of  his  men,  the 
admiration  of  the  Western  public,  and  the  Con- 
gressional Medal  of  Honor,  but  was  mentioned 
in  orders  by  all  his  superiors. 

In  his  report  of  the  campaign,  Captain  Lawton 
said: 

"I  desire  to  invite  the  attention  of  the  depart- 
ment commander  to  Assistant  Surgeon  Leonard 
Wood,  the  only  officer  who  has  been  with  me 
through  the  whole  campaign.  His  courage,  en- 
ergy, and  loyal  support  during  the  whole  time, 
his  encouraging  example  to  the  command  when 
work  was  the  hardest  and  prospects  darkest,  his 
thorough  confidence  and  belief  in  the  final  success 
of  the  expedition,  and  his  untiring  efforts  to  make 
it  so,  have  placed  me  under  obligations  so  great 
that  I  can  not  express  them." 

In  1894  Lawton  repeated  his  commendation  to 
his  commanding  officer,  Major-General  Miles,  in 
the  following  terms : 

"Concerning  Captain  Leonard  Wood,  I  can 
only  repeat  what  I  have  before  reported  officially, 
and  what  I  have  said  to  you;  that  his  services 
during  that  trying  campaign  were  of  the  highest 
order.  I  speak  particularly  of  services  other  than 
those  devolving  upon  him  as  a  medical  officer; 
services  as  a  combatant  or  line  officer,  voluntarily 
assumed.    He  sought  the  most  difficult  and  dan- 

[69] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

gerous  work,  and  by  his  determination  and  cour- 
age rendered  a  successful  issue  of  the  campaign 
possible." 

And  still  later,  in  a  letter  to  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  Lawton  said: 

"I  have  served  through  the  war  of  the  rebel- 
lion, and  in  many  battles,  but  in  no  instance  do  I 
remember  such  devotion  to  duty  or  such  courage 
and  perseverance.  It  was  mainly  due  to  Captain 
Wood's  loyalty  and  resolution  that  the  expedi- 
tion was  successful." 

Major-General  Miles,  endorsing  Lawton's  com- 
mendation, wrote  as  follows : 

"Assistant  Surgeon  Wood  accompanied  Law- 
ton's  command  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 
He  not  only  fulfilled  the  duties  of  his  profession 
in  his  skillful  attention  to  disabled  officers  and 
soldiers,  but  performed  satisfactorily  the  duties 
of  a  line  officer,  and  during  the  whole  extraordi- 
nary march,  by  his  example  of  physical  endur- 
ance, greatly  encouraged  others,  having  volun- 
tarily made  many  of  the  longest  and  most  diffi- 
cult marches  on  foot." 

Subsequently  General  Miles  sent  the  following 
commendation  to  the  Secretary  of  War: 

"I  now  most  earnestly  renew  the  recommenda- 
tion, calling  especial  attention  to  the  letter  of 
Colonel  Lawton,  which  describes  one  of  the  most 
laborious,  persistent,  and  heroic  campaigns  in 
which  men  were  ever  engaged,  and  the  fact  that 
Captain  Leonard  Wood,  Assistant  Surgeon,  vol- 

[70] 


THE  GERONIMO  CAMPAIGN 

unteered  to  perform  the  extraordinarily  hazard- 
ous and  dangerous  service  is  creditable  to  him 
in  the  highest  degree.  For  his  gallantry  on  the 
13th  of  July  in  the  surprise  and  capture  of  Geron- 
imo's  camp,  I  recommend  that  he  be  brevetted 
for  his  services  on  that  date." 

His  work  in  the  Geronimo  campaign  was  the 
first  big  step  upward  in  Wood's  career,  and  ten 
years  later  when  there  was  a  shortage  of  ex- 
perienced officers  to  command  the  volunteer  units 
in  the  Spanish  War,  it  led  to  his  selection  as  Colo- 
nel Qf  the  First  Volunteer  Cavalry,  better  known 
to  fame  as  the  "Rough  Riders." 

It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  Wood  was 
made  Colonel  of  the  First  Volunteer  Cavalry  by 
"pull."  Nothing  is  farther  from  the  truth,  for 
the  Rough  Riders  were  recruited  from  New  Mex- 
ico, Arizona  and  the  Indian  Territory,  the  very 
country  in  which  Wood  had  campaigned  against 
Geronimo,  and  where  his  military  reputation  was 
favorably  known  to  every  settler  and  cow- 
puncher.  He  was  the  one  man  best  suited  to 
command  a  regiment  recruited  from  this  ter- 
ritory. 


[71] 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   SPANISH-AMERICAN   WAR 

To  Leonard  Wood's  willingness  always  to  vol- 
unteer, no  matter  how  dangerous  or  unpromising 
the  task,  and  to  his  dictum  to  do  things  and  not 
talk  about  them,  must  be  added  a  third  and  cap- 
ping characteristic  in  the  structure  of  his  suc- 
cess,— his  extraordinary  faculty  of  foreseeing 
the  general  nature  of  his  future  opportunities 
to  serve  his  country  and  of  preparing  himself  to 
meet  them. 

In  several  instances  the  greatest  successes  of 
his  life  have  been  directly  due  to  this  faculty. 
Long  before  the  Spanish  War  began,  he  fore- 
saw the  possibility  that  he  might  be  appointed 
to  command  a  volunteer  organization,  and  also 
foresaw  the  impending  lack  of  military  equip- 
ment; he  therefore  took  steps  to  get  supplies  for 
his  organization  before  the  rush  began.  As  a  re- 
sult of  this  foresightedness  the  Rough  Riders 
were  the  only  volunteer  cavalry  regiment  which 
was  ready  for  action  in  time  to  fight  at  San  Juan, 
the  only  major  battle  of  the  whole  war.  It  is  in- 
teresting in  this  connection  to  recall  Lincoln's  dic- 
tum:— "He  who  does  something  at  the  head  of 
one  regiment  will  eclipse  him  who  does  nothing 
at  the  head  of  a  hundred." 

[72] 


THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

While  the  great  majority  of  his  fellow-country- 
men were  still  maintaining  that  hostilities  would 
be  unnecessary,  Wood  clearly  realized  that  war 
was  inevitable.  He  was  convinced  that  his  coun- 
try would  not  much  longer  tolerate  the  abuses 
perpetrated  by  Spain  in  Cuba.  Accordingly  he 
set  out  not  only  to  create  an  opportunity  to  serve 
in  the  coming  crash,  but  also  prepared  himself  to 
meet  that  opportunity  successfully. 

President  McKinley  had  faith  in  Wood's  ster- 
ling character  and  in  his  ability,  for  he  was  fa- 
miliar with  his  past  record  not  only  as  a  success- 
ful surgeon,  but  also  as  a  competent  soldier  in 
the  campaign  against  Geronimo. 

Roosevelt,  in  describing  his  conversations  with 
Wood  at  this  epoch,  said:  "We  both  felt  very 
.strongly  that  such  a  war  would  be  a  righteous 
one,  and  would  be  advantageous  to  the  honor  and 
the  interests  of  the  nation ;  and  after  the  blowing 
up  of  the  Maine,  we  felt  that  it  was  inevitable. 

"We  then  at  once  began  to  try  to  see  that  we 
had  our  share  of  it.  .  .  . 

"At  first  we  had  great  difficulty  in  knowing  ex- 
actly what  to  try  for.  We  could  go  on  the  staff 
of  any  one  of  several  Generals,  but  we  much  pre- 
ferred the  line.  Wood  hoped  he  might  get  a 
commission  from  his  native  State  of  Massachu- 
setts. .  .  . 

"Our  doubts  were  resolved  when  Congress,  up- 
on the  suggestion  of  Senator  Warren,  author- 
ized the  raising  of  three  cavalry  regiments  from 

[73] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

among  the  wild  riders  and  riflemen  of  the  Rockies 
and  of  the  Great  Plains." 

Roosevelt  and  Wood  were  offered  the  Colo- 
nelcies of  two  of  these  regiments,  but  Roosevelt 
doubted  his  own  ability  to  fulfil  such  a  command 
until  he  had  had  more  extensive  military  experi- 
ence. His  attitude  was  that  of  a  generous  and 
patriotic  soul,  unwilling  to  jeopardize  the  lives 
of  American  soldiers  or  the  interests  of  his  coun- 
try for  his  own  personal  advancement.  He  pre- 
ferred to  serve  as  second-in-command  under 
Wood,  in  whose  experience  and  ability  he  had 
implicit  confidence. 

"Secretary  Alger,"  writes  Roosevelt,  "offered 
me  the  command  of  one  of  these  regiments.  .  .  . 
Fortunately,  I  was  wise  enough  to  tell  the  Secre- 
tary that  ...  I  would  be  quite  content  to  go  as 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  if  he  would  make  Wood 
Colonel. 

"This  was  entirely  satisfactory  to  both  the 
President  and  Secretary,  and  accordingly  Wood 
and  I  were  speedily  commissioned  as  Colonel  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  First  United  States 
Volunteer  Cavalry." 

Hundreds  of  new  regiments  were  being  called 
into  existence  by  the  United  States  Government, 
but  there  was  not  equipment  for  a  tenth  that  num- 
ber. For  every  ten  regiments  which  could  be  im- 
mediately fitted  out  there  were  ninety  which  would 
have  to  wait  many  months  while  new  supplies 
were  contracted  for,  manufactured  and  delivered. 

[74] 


THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

But  for  a  regiment  to  wait  that  long  meant  that 
it  would  miss  the  first  campaigns  and  in  all  prob- 
ability the  whole  war. 

Gradually  it  began  to  dawn  on  the  various 
regimental  commanders  that  they  were  in  for  a 
race  to  see  who  would  first  obtain  what  little 
equipment  there  was  on  hand. 

From  the  very  beginning  Wood  had  clearly 
understood  the  situation  and  with  characteristic 
foresight  had  obtained  a  correspondingly  early 
start. 

He  had  not  only  sensed  the  inevitable  compli- 
cations before  any  one  else  realized  them,  but 
had  carefully  prepared  all  the  requisitions  for  the 
equipment  of  a  regiment,  and  had  made  a  study 
of  the  location  of  the  various  depots  throughout 
the  United  States  where  the  supplies  could  be 
obtained. 

When  he  was  commissioned  Colonel  he  needed 
only  three  days  to  amend  his  papers  exactly  to 
fit  the  requirements  of  the  Rough  Riders,  bring- 
ing everything  up  to  date  and  even  writing  out 
the  telegrams  which  would  need  to  be  sent  out  by 
the  President  directing  the  Governors  of  Arizona, 
New  Mexico  and  Indian  Territory  to  issue  the 
call  for  recruits.  Each  paper  required  only  the 
signature  of  the  Secretary  of  War  to  become  an 
official  order  issued  in  the  name  of  the  President. 

When  all  these  papers  were  ready  Wood  took 
them  in  one  lot  to  Secretary  Alger,  who  said  in 
surprise:     "If  more  men  would  only  do  things 

[75] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

instead  of  talking  about  them,  the  army  would 
soon  be  organized." 

He  promptly  signed  all  the  papers,  and  Wood 
was  off  to  get  the  full  equipment  for  his  regi- 
ment from  the  various  supply  depots  and  arsenals, 
before  other  Colonels  had  even  figured  out  the 
rules  of  the  game. 

He  obtained  the  new  Krag  rifles  for  the  Rough 
Riders,  the  only  volunteer  regiment  armed  with 
this  up-to-date  weapon. 

Wood  had  been  commissioned  Colonel  of  his, 
then  non-existent,  regiment  on  May  8th.  On 
May  2 1  st  the  regiment,  organized,  trained  and 
fully  equipped,  had  been  completely  mustered  into 
the  Federal  Service.  It  left  its  mobilization  cen- 
ter in  San  Antonio,  Texas,  and  was  on  its  way  to 
Cuba  on  May  30th. 

In  three  weeks  he  had  recruited,  enlisted  and 
assembled  a  thousand  men  and  had  obtained  for 
them  their  horses,  rifles,  pistols,  ammunition, 
clothing,  shelter  tents,  haversacks,  saddle  equip- 
ment, food,  medical  supplies  and  a  thousand  other 
items  of  equipment,  and  had  welded  all  into  a  cav- 
alry regiment  with  splendid  morale. 

His  resourcefulness,  inventiveness  and  persist- 
ency overcame  every  obstacle  and  broke  through 
even  the  red-tape  of  the  Ordnance  Department. 

A  little  more  than  three  weeks  later,  on  June 
24th,  the  regiment,  the  product  of  Wood's  organ- 
izing ability,  was  put  to  the  supreme  test  of 
battle,  and  in  a  difficult,  tactical  operation  was 

[76] 


THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

able  to  take  the  offensive  and  decisively  defeat 
twice  its  number  of  Spanish  regulars,  acting  on 
the  defensive  in  prepared  trenches  in  their  own 
country. 

The  regiment  arrived  at  Tampa  on  June  4th, 
after  a  weary  four  days  trip  by  rail.  The  horses 
and  mules  had  been  unloaded  and  exercised  every 
day  of  the  journey,  and  as  a  result  not  one  died 
or  was  taken  sick.  At  Tampa  the  regiment  "dis- 
embarked into  a  perfect  welter  of  confusion. 
Tampa  lay  in  pine-covered  flats  at  the  end  of  a 
one-track  railroad,  and  everything  connected  with 
both  military  and  railroad  matters  was  in  an  al- 
most inextricable  tangle.,,  * 

There  seemed  to  be  no  one  in  authority  and 
there  were  no  orders  as  to  where  the  regiment 
was  to  camp.  There  was  little  food,  and  in  or- 
der to  feed  their  men,  the  officers  were  obliged  to 
buy  food  and  pay  for  it  out  of  their  own  pockets. 

After  a  week  at  Tampa,  during  which  Wood 
found  time  not  only  to  rest  his  men  and  horses, 
but  to  have  numerous  mounted  drills,  telegraphic 
orders  were  received  that  the  expeditionary  force 
was  to  sail  from  Port  Tampa  the  next  morning 
for  some  unknown  destination.  The  Rough 
Riders  were  to  go  with  it,  but  were  to  leave  their 
horses  behind,  together  with  four  of  their  twelve 
troops  which  were  to  take  care  of  the  animals. 
The  other  eight  troops  were  to  entrain  at  a  cer- 
tain track  at  midnight. 

*  By  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

[77] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

The  regiment  was  at  the  appointed  place  on 
time,  but  the  expected  train  never  appeared. 

At  three  in  the  morning,  new  orders  were  re- 
ceived, requiring  the  regiment  to  go  to  a  differ- 
ent track.  Here  also  the  train  failed  to  appear, 
but  at  six  o'clock  some  empty  coal  cars  came 
along,  going  in  the  opposite  direction.  Wood 
held  up  this  train  and  in  a  good-natured  way 
induced  the  engineer  to  take  the  regiment  on 
board,  and  then  back  his  train  the  nine  miles  to 
Port  Tampa.  By  this  expedient  they  finally  ar- 
rived at  their  port  of  departure. 

But  there  the  same  comedy  of  inefficiency  con- 
tinued. For  hours,  Wood  and  Roosevelt  en- 
deavored to  ascertain  what  transport  they  were 
to  take,  and  where  and  when  they  were  to 
embark.  Eventually,  by  persistence,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  themselves  assigned  to  the  S*.  S. 
Yucatan.  It  was  soon  discovered,  however,  that 
this  ship,  with  a  capacity  to  accommodate  one 
regiment  only,  had  already  been  assigned  to  the 
Second  Regular  Infantry  and  the  Seventy-First 
New  York  Volunteers  in  addition  to  the  Rough 
Riders. 

Colonel  Wood  hunted  up  a  launch,  and  per- 
suaded the  officer  in  charge  to  take  him  out  to  the 
Yucatan,  which  was  still  in  mid-stream,  but  was 
preparing  to  dock.  He  boarded  the  ship  and  held 
possession ;  meanwhile  Lieutenant-Colonel  Roose- 
velt went  back  to  get  the  regiment  and  double- 
quicked  it  to  the  wharf. 

[78] 


THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

When  the  other  two  regiments  eventually  ar- 
rived they  found  the  Rough  Riders  in  full  pos- 
session of  the  transport  with  almost  no  room  left 
for  more  passengers.  Space  was  eventually 
made  for  Colonel  Wherry  and  two  companies 
of  the  Second  Infantry. 

The  first  American  expeditionary  force  sent  to 
Cuba  consisted  of  one  Army  Corps  under  Gen- 
eral Shafter,  consisting  of  eighteen  regular  in- 
fantry regiments,  three  volunteer  infantry  regi- 
ments, five  regular  cavalry  regiments  (dis- 
mounted), one  volunteer  cavalry  regiment  (the 
Rough  Riders,  dismounted),  six  batteries  of 
regular  artillery,  and  a  battalion  of  regular  engi- 
neers. 

Hundreds  of  volunteer  regiments  were  author- 
ized during  the  war,  but  only  four  eventually 
reached  Cuba  before  hostilities  had  practically 
ceased.  The  First  Volunteer  Cavalry  or  Rough 
Riders  was  the  only  unit  of  its  class  to  take  part 
in  the  battles  of  Las  Guasimas  and  San  Juan.  Of 
its  five  hundred  members  who  landed  in  Cuba,  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  were  killed  or  wounded, 
a  ratio  of  casualties  not  exceeded  by  any  other 
regiment. 

Shatter's  Army  Corps  consisted  of  three  divi- 
sions. The  First  commanded  by  General  Kent, 
and  the  Second  by  the  same  General  Lawton  who 
had  been  Wood's  chief  in  the  Geronimo  Cam- 

[79] 


LEONARD  WOOD 


paign.     Each  infantry  division  was  composed  of 
three  brigades  of  three  regiments  each. 

The  Cavalry  Division  (dismounted)  was  com- 
manded by  Major-General  Joe  Wheeler,  the  fa- 
mous Confederate  Cavalry  leader,  who  was  sec- 
ond in  rank  to  Shafter.  His  division,  which  con- 
sisted of  two  brigades  of  three  cavalry  regiments 
each,  was  made  up  as  follows : 

Cavalry  Division 
Major  General  Wheeler,  Commanding. 
While  Gen.  Wheeler  was  sick  with  fever  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Brig.-Gen.  Sumner. 
ist  Cavalry  Brigade  2nd  Cavalry  Brigade 

Brigadier-General     Sum-     Brig.-Gen.      S.      B.      M. 


ner,  Command'g. 
When     Gen.      Sumner 
took   command  of  the 
Division    he    was    suc- 
ceeded by 
Colonel  Henry  Carroll. 
When  Col.  Carroll  was 
wounded  he  was   suc- 
ceeded by 
Lt.-Colonel        Hamilton, 

who  was  killed. 
This    brigade    was    com- 
posed of 
3rd  Regular  Cavalry 
6th  Regular  Cavalry 
9th    Regular    Cavalry 
(colored) 


Young,  Command'g. 
When  Gen.  Young  suc- 
cumbed to  fever  he  was 
succeeded  by 
Colonel    Leonard    Wood 
(promoted        Brig.- 
Gen.) 
When  Gen.  Wood  be- 
came Gov.  of  Santiago 
he  was  succeeded  by 
Lt.-Colonel         Roosevelt 

(promoted  Colonel) 
This    brigade    was    com- 
posed of 
ist  Volunteer  Cavalry 
ist  Regular  Cavalry 
10th   Regular    Cavalry 
(colored) 


[80] 


CHAPLAIN  BROWN 

of  the  "Rough  Riders" 
MAJ.-GEN.  WHEELER        BRIG.-GEN.  WOOD 
Commanding  Commanding 

Cavalry  Division  2nd  Cavalry  Brigade 

COL.  ROOSEVEL 

OFFICERS   OF   THE    CAVALRY   DIVISION  lst  VotoSe^cfval 


Leonard  Wood  and  his  eldest  son 
at  the  epoch  of  the  Spanish  War 


CHAPLAIN 
BROWN 


COL.  COL. 

ROOSEVELT     WOOD 


CHAPLAIN   BROWN    PREACHING   TO   THE       ROUGH    RIDERS 


THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

Shafter's  Corps  disembarked  on  June  22d  at 
the  beach  of  Daiquiri,  about  thirty  miles  east  of 
the  mouth  of  Santiago  harbor;  a  force  of  about 
500  Spaniards  was  driven  inland  by  a  bom- 
bardment from  the  fleet,  so  that  the  landing 
proceeded  without  opposition.  It  was  the  in- 
tention to  advance  westward  along  the  coast  to 
Santiago,  the  left  of  the  army  resting  on  the  sea 
and  the  right  on  the  high,  impassable  country 
inland. 

The  next  day,  June  23d,  the  Corps  moved  for- 
ward along  the  coast  about  ten  miles  to  Siboney, 
where  in  the  evening  it  first  gained  contact  with 
the  main  body  of  the  Spanish  forces  defending 
Santiago. 

During  the  night  plans  for  throwing  back  the 
enemy  were  made  by  Major-General  Wheeler, 
commanding  in  the  absence  of  General  Shafter 
who  was  still  on  shipboard.  Reconnaissance  by 
Cuban  scouts  had  demonstrated  that  the  Span- 
iards were  holding  a  strong  position  about  four 
miles  beyond  Siboney,  and  were  there  confidently 
awaiting  the  American  attack. 

Brigadier-General  Young's  2nd  Cavalry  Bri- 
gade, to  which  the  Rough  Riders  belonged,  was 
ordered  to  lead  the  attack  at  dawn.  The  rest  of 
the  Corps  was  to  follow  them  into  battle. 

The  country  was  mountainous  and  covered 
with  forests,  which  in  certain  spots  were  very 
dense.  From  Siboney  a  main  road  led  up  the 
valley  towards  Santiago.    This  was  the  shortest 

[81] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

route  to  the  enemy's  position.  Another  road, 
really  little  more  than  a  trail,  branched  off  to  the 
left  just  outside  Siboney,  climbed  the  hills  along 
the  left  side  of  the  valley,  followed  their  sum- 
mits for  several  miles,  and  then  descended  into 
the  valley  again  to  join  the  main  road  at  a  dis- 
tance of  a  little  more  than  four  miles. 

The  enemy's  position  was  in  front  of  the  final 
junction  of  these  two  roads,  at  a  place  called  Las 
Guasimas.  A  force  which  could  make  its  way 
along  this  mountain  trail  would  be  able  to  strike 
the  enemy's  right  flank  and,  if  successful  in  its 
attack,  would  outflank  the  main  Spanish  position 
and  bring  about  a  general  retreat. 

General  Young  decided  to  lead  two  of  his  regi- 
ments forward  along  the  main  road  to  make  a 
frontal  attack,  while  his  third  regiment  took  the 
longer,  steeper  and  rougher  hill  road  towards 
the  enemy's  flank. 

Colonel  Wood  sought  this  more  difficult  mis- 
sion, and  at  a  midnight  council  of  war  was  se- 
lected by  General  Young  to  take  the  hill  trail  with 
his  regiment 

At  a  quarter  before  six,  on  the  morning  of 
June  24th,  Young's  brigade  marched  out  of  Sib- 
oney, Young  himself  with  eight  troops  of  regu- 
lars and  two  Hotchkiss  guns  moving  up  the  main 
road,  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  regular  troops 
as  reserves. 

Wood,  with  the  eight  troops  of  the  Rough 
Riders  and  two  Colt  guns,  took  the  hill  trail  to 

[82], 


THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

the  left,  the  two  forces  marching  towards  the 
Spaniards  on  parallel  routes  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  apart. 

Eight  o'clock  had  been  tentatively  set  by  Gen- 
eral Young  as  the  hour  for  their  joint  attack. 
The  head  of  his  main  column,  having  the  shorter 
and  easier  route,  sighted  the  Spaniards  in  their 
trenches  at  about  half -past  seven.  Young,  who 
was  with  his  advance  guard,  restrained  his  men 
from  firing  and  halted  his  main  body  for  half 
an  hour  without  disturbing  the  Spaniards,  so 
that  Wood  might  have  time  to  reach  his  objec- 
tive, the  enemy's  right  flank. 

Meanwhile  Colonel  Wood  had  been  pushing 
forward  at  a  rapid  rate.  He  handled  his  regi- 
ment with  faultless  perfection.  Assuming  the 
correct  military  formation,  he  threw  out  an  ad- 
vance guard  of  one  troop,  so  that  in  case  of  an 
unexpected  ambush,  or  a'  head-on  collision  with 
an  aggressive  advancing  enemy,  not  more  than 
one-eighth  of  his  force  would  be  involved  in  a 
surprise.  He  led  this  troop  himself,  while  the 
other  seven  troops  followed  in  security  at  a  little 
distance. 

For  additional  precaution  a  picked  non-commis- 
sioned officer,  Sergeant  Hamilton  Fish,  and  four 
men,  were  pushed  far  ahead  of  the  advance 
guard  troop,  as  a  "point"  to  give  ample  warning 
of  the  presence  of  the  enemy. 

Shortly  before  eight  the  "point"  discovered  the 

[83] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Spaniards,  and  quietly  sent  back  word  to  Colonel 
Wood  and  to  the  advance  guard  troop. 

Wood  immediately  deployed  this  troop  across 
the  road,  being  able  to  do  so  before  any  firing 
commenced.  He  then  ran  back  to  the  main  body 
of  his  regiment  and  deployed  three  troops  to  the 
right  of  the  road  and  three  to  the  left,  in  one  long 
battle  line,  holding  the  eighth  troop  in  reserve 
under  cover.  Then  he  gave  the  order  to  advance 
and  the  battle  line  of  six  troops,  supported  by  the 
two  Colt  guns,  went  forward  at  eight  o'clock  and 
the  battle  began. 

Thus  General  Young's  plan  was  executed  to 
perfection.  His  two  forces  were  able  to  deploy 
into  proper  combat  formation  and  to  open  the 
battle  without  interruption  from  the  enemy;  in 
the  center  and  on  the  left  wing  the  attack  began 
simultaneously. 

Wood  smashed  in  the  Spanish  right  after  a 
bitter  fight  in  which  he  lost  forty-two  men,  and 
in  which  the  advance  guard  troop  suffered  most 
heavily,  both  the  Captain  of  the  troop  and  the 
Sergeant  in  command  of  the  "point"  being  killed. 
The  regiment  then  turned  its  fire  to  its  right,  en- 
filading the  enemy's  main  position,  so  that  he  re- 
treated in  disorder,  closely  pursued  by  the  regu- 
lars under  Young. 

The  Rough  Riders  followed  up  the  Spaniards 
for  a  mile  beyond  their  abandoned  trenches,  and 
then  took  up  a  defensive  position  to  repel  counter- 
attacks. 

[84] 


THE   SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

Colonel  Wood  then  re-ammunitioned  and  re- 
watered  his  men.  Shortly  afterwards  the  9th 
Regular  Cavalry  (colored)  arrived  on  the  scene 
and  reported  to  Wood  as  reinforcements.  He 
pushed  them  through  his  lines  to  an  outpost  posi- 
tion, thus  allowing  the  Rough  Riders  to  relax 
their  vigilance,  to  take  a  well-earned  rest,  and 
to  care  for  their  wounded. 

The  gallant  9th  Cavalry,  which  had  not  been 
able  to  leave  Siboney  for  more  than  an  hour  after 
the  Rough  Riders,  was  most  chagrined  to  have 
arrived  too  late  for  the  battle;  they  were  not  in 
action  and  had  no  casualties. 

To  any  soldier,  Wood's  feat  of  tactics  at  Las 
Guasimas  will  immediately  be  recognizable  as  one 
of  the  most  difficult  in  the  lexicon  of  war, — 
that  of  leading  a  strong  flanking  detachment  in 
cooperation  with  a  main  body  executing  a  frontal 
attack.  It  is  a  move  which  fails  far  more  often 
than  it  succeeds,  and  which  never  succeeds  except 
under  able  leadership.  The  feat  which  Wood  per- 
formed for  Young  at  Siboney  was,  on  a  smaller 
scale,  the  same  which  Stonewall  Jackson  with 
equal  success  executed  for  Robert  E.  Lee  at  Chan- 
cellorsville. 

In  this  action  the  Spanish  forces  engaged  num- 
bered about  1,500  with  two  field  guns,  while  there 
were  about  500  reserves  not  employed.  The 
Rough  Riders  numbered  about  480,  and  the  eight 
troops  of  regulars  which  attacked  along  the  main 

[85] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

road  had  a  total  strength  of  some  470  officers  and 
men. 

After  the  battle  an  examination  of  the  Spanish 
position  showed  that  the  force  directly  opposed  to 
the  Rough  Riders  had  been  deployed  on  a  front 
of  1 100  yards, — about  three-fifths  of  a  mile, — 
and  that  it  had  fired  more  than  100,000  rounds  of 
rifle  ammunition. 

During  this  fight  Wood,  realizing  that  soldiers 
engaging  in  their  first  battle  are  sometimes  nerv- 
ous, deliberately  exposed  himself  to  the  enemy's 
fire,  in  order  to  steady  his  men.  Leading  his 
horse,  he  walked  up  and  down  the  firing  line,  en- 
couraging the  Rough  Riders  as  they  lay  in  what- 
ever cover  they  could  find,  shooting  at  the  Span- 
iards. 

As  he  directed  and  encouraged  his  men  he 
passed  one  private  who  was  swearing  a  blue- 
streak, — not  an  uncommon  reaction  with  a 
soldier  in  his  first  battle.  Colonel  Wood  at- 
tracted his  attention,  smiled  at  him,  and  said : — 
"Don't  swear ;  shoot !"  whereupon  the  soldier  im- 
mediately steadied  down  to  his  work. 

The  victorious  conclusion  of  this  action,  the 
first  in  which  American  soldiers  fought  against 
their  Spanish  enemies,  had  a  tremendous  effect 
in  elevating  the  morale  of  the  American  army 
in  the  field,  and  of  the  people  at  home,  and  in 
convincing  them  of  ultimate  victory. 

In  Brigadier-General  Young's  official  report  of 
the  action  Wood  was  mentioned  as  follows: — 

[86] 


THE   SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

"I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  efficient  man- 
ner in  which  Colonel  Wood  handled  his  regiment, 
and  of  his  magnificent  behavior  in  the  field." 

Wood  was  also  mentioned  in  the  dispatches  of 
Major-General  Wheeler,  "for  gallantry  in  battle. 
Colonel  Wood  disdained  to  take  advantage  of 
shelter  or  cover  from  the  enemy's  fire  while  any 
of  his  men  remained  exposed  to  it — an  error  of 
judgment  but  happily  on  the  heroic  side." 

Roosevelt  wrote  of  him: — "No  officer  ever 
showed  more  ceaseless  energy  in  providing  for 
his  soldiers,  in  reconnoitering,  in  overseeing  per- 
sonally all  the  countless  details  of  life  in  camp, 
in  patrolling  the  trenches  at  night,  in  seeing  by 
personal  inspection  that  the  outposts  were  doing 
their  duty,  in  attending  personally  to  all  the  thou- 
sand and  one  things  to  which  a  commander 
should  attend,  and  to  which  only  those  com- 
manders of  marked  and  exceptional  mental  and 
bodily  vigor  are  able  to  attend." 

Wood's  career  as  a  regimental  commander 
terminated  with  the  important  action  at  Las 
Guasimas,  for  shortly  afterwards  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Young  was  taken  seriously  ill  with  fever  and 
had  to  be  returned  to  the  United  States.  Wood 
succeeded  him  in  command  of  the  2nd  Cavalry 
Brigade,  which  he  continued  to  lead  until  the  ter- 
mination of  hostilities. 

After  Las  Guasimas  a  delay  of  one  week  inter- 
vened before  the  battle  of  San  Juan,  the  decisive 

[87] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

engagement  of  the  war.  The  Spaniards  were 
strongly  entrenched  in  semi-permanent  fortifica- 
tions outside  Santiago,  and  an  interval  of  time 
was  necessary  for  the  reconnaissance  of  their  po- 
sitions, for  the  bringing  up  of  supplies  and  ammu- 
nition, for  the  making  of  plans  of  battle,  and  for 
the  proper  concentration  and  deployment  of  the 
American  troops. 

The  city  and  harbor  of  Santiago  now  lay  ten 
miles  ahead  of  the  American  forces,  and  approxi- 
mately west  of  their  position.  The  city  was  de- 
fended by  the  natural  barrier  of  the  San  Juan 
Hills,  which  extended  across  the  path  of  the 
American  advance,  stretching  from  the  sea  on 
the  left  to  the  impassable  upland  jungle  country 
on  the  right.  It  was  the  mission  of  Shafter's 
Army  Corps  to  capture  these  hills ;  once  they  were 
in  his  possession,  Santiago  would  lie  helpless  at 
his  feet. 

The  task  was  an  extremely  difficult  one,  how- 
ever, as  the  hills  were  defended  by  permanent 
block  houses  and  by  semi-permanent  trenches, 
which  overlooked  and  commanded  the  low  coun- 
try across  which  the  Americans  would  have  to 
advance  in  order  to  attack.  Moreover,  the  San 
Juan  Hills  were  further  protected  by  the  San 
Juan  River,  which  ran  all  across  their  entire  front 
and  was  at  most  points  unfordable. 

The  hills  were  like  a  castle  wall ;  the  river  like 
a  moat  to  be  crossed  before  the  walls  could  be 
reached. 

[88] 


THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

Moreover,  an  isolated,  fortified  hill,  since 
known  as  Kettle  Hill,  stood  far  out  in  front  of 
the  center  of  the  San  Juan  Range,  enfilading  the 
whole  front  of  attack  and  dominating  the  fords 
of  the  river. 

The  Spanish  position  could  be  approached  by- 
three  routes.  First,  the  Siboney-Las-Guasimas- 
Santiago  road,  along  which  the  Corps  was  en- 
camped; second,  a  railroad,  skirting  the  sea  on 
the  American  left;  third,  a  wagon  road,  leading 
to  El  Caney  on  the  American  right. 

The  attack  was  set  for  the  ist  of  July.  The 
tactics  used  at  Las  Guasimas  were  to  be  repeated. 
The  main  body,  consisting  of  Kent's  ist  In- 
fantry Division  and  Wheeler's  Cavalry  Division, 
was  to  engage  the  enemy  in  front,  approaching 
along  the  Siboney-Las  Guasimas-Santiago  road, 
while  Lawton's  26.  Infantry  Division  was  to  make 
a  flank  attack  to  the  right,  to  smash  in  the  Span- 
ish flank  in  the  neighborhood  of  El  Caney,  and 
enfilade  the  enemy  line  so  that  the  main  body 
would  take  advantage  of  his  confusion  and  carry 
the  San  Juan  Range.  As  a  demonstration  to  dis- 
tract the  Spaniards'  attention  from  Lawton's  at- 
tack on  the  right,  the  33rd  Michigan  Volunteer 
Infantry  was  sent  along  the  coast-line  railroad 
to  make  a  demonstration  on  the  left,  supported  by 
the  guns  of  Admiral  Sampson's  fleet. 

Lawton's  2nd  Division  marched  off  during 
the  afternoon  of  June  30th,  and  commenced 
an  attack  upon  El  Caney  at  6:30  on  the  morn- 

[89] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

ing  of  July  ist,  but  his  flanking  movement 
was  not  as  successful  as  had  been  Wood's 
at  Las  Guasimas.  The  Spanish  positions  included 
four  block-houses,  a  stone  church  and  a  stone 
fort,  which  the  American  light  field  artillery  was 
unable  to  batter  down.  The  Spanish  forces  were 
commanded  by  the  indomitable  General  Vara  de 
Rey,  who  led  the  defense  in  person,  who  was  first 
wounded  and  eventually  hit  again  and  killed,  but 
who  meanwhile  inspired  his  men  with  such  tena- 
cious courage  that  only  a  hundred  of  them  es- 
caped death,  wounds  or  capture;  they  held  up 
Lawton's  entire  Division  for  nine  hours,  from 
6:30  in  the  morning  until  nearly  3:30  in  the 
afternoon,  so  that  Shafter's  original  plan  of  ac- 
tion was  checkmated. 

Meanwhile  Kent's  ist  Infantry  Division  and 
Wheeler's  Cavalry  Division  had  begun  their 
march  before  daylight,  eventually  taking  up  a 
position  on  the  near  side  of  the  San  Juan  River, 
and  facing  the  San  Juan  Hills  which  lay  beyond 
it.  Kent's  ist  Infantry  Division  deployed  into 
battle  line  to  the  left  of  the  Siboney-Las 
Guasimas-Santiago  road  on  a  front  of  about  two 
miles,  and  the  Cavalry  Division  was  placed  at 
the  right  of  the  same  road.  The  deployment  was 
practically  complete  by  8:30,  and  the  troops  lay 
down  to  await  the  success  of  Lawton's  attack, 
meantime  suffering  heavy  casualties  from  infan- 
try and  automatic  guns  located  on  the  outlying 
Kettle  Hill  in  their  immediate  front,  and  also 

[90] 


THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

from  long-range  fire  from  the  San  Juan  Hills. 
The  Cavalry  Division  suffered  most  severely  since 
Kettle  Hill  was  directly  in  its  front  and  only  a  few 
hundred  yards  away. 

By  9 130,  when  Lawton  had  been  in  action  three 
hours,  the  sounds  of  his  battle  indicated  that  he 
was  making  no  progress  and  therefore  from  a 
tactical  point  of  view,  and  as  a  component  part  of 
the  whole  battle,  his  attack  was  a  failure. 

Wood,  riding  about  through  his  brigade  to 
gain  an  immediate,  first-hand  knowledge  of  the 
situation,  found  that  under  the  withering  fire  of 
the  Spaniards  his  men  had  already  lost  about 
twenty  per  cent,  of  their  total  number,  and  real- 
ized that  if  they  stayed  there  an  hour  or  two 
longer,  awaiting  the  completion  of  Lawton's  at- 
tack, they  would  be  practically  annihilated,  so  that 
Lawton,  even  if  eventually  successful,  would  be 
too  late  to  save  the  day.  Wood's  clear  intelli- 
gence showed  him  that  radical  action  and  an  im- 
mediate change  of  plans  were  necessary  if  the 
battle  were  yet  to  be  won. 

The  situation  was  complicated  by  the  fact  that 
General  Shafter,  a  man  weighing  nearly  three 
hundred  pounds,  had  been  exhausted  by  the  heat 
while  making  a  reconnaissance  the  previous  day, 
and  in  addition  had  suffered  an  attack  of  gout. 
He  was  confined  to  his  tent  the  entire  day 
of  the  battle,  and  was  therefore  unable  personally 
to  intervene  now  that  Vara  de  Rey's  heroic  de- 

[91] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

fense  against  Lawton  had  disrupted  his  original 
plan  of  attack. 

He  was,  however,  represented  in  the  battle  by 
his  aide-de-camp,  Lieutenant  Miley,  who  was  at 
the  front  along  the  Siboney-Las  Guasimas- 
Santiago  road. 

These  facts  were  known  to  Wood,  who,  after 
consulting  with  his  Division  Commander,  gal- 
loped over  to  the  road  at  about  9:30,  located 
Miley,  whom  he  knew  and  for  whom  he  had  a 
high  regard,  and  persuaded  him  that  radical  and 
desperate  measures  were  necessary;  namely,  a 
direct  frontal  attack,  without  waiting  longer  for 
Lawton  to  break  and  turn  the  Spanish  flank. 

In  General  Shafter's  name,  Miley  gave  the 
necessary  permission.  Wood  rode  back  to  his  2nd 
Cavalry  Brigade,  which  was  lying  slightly  behind 
and  to  the  right  of  the  other  Cavalry  Brigade,  and 
set  it  in  motion  forward.  As  it  went  through 
the  other  Cavalry  Brigade  it  picked  it  up,  and 
the  entire  Cavalry  Division  participated  in  a  suc- 
cessful charge  on  Kettle  Hill  which  was  carried 
by  assault. 

After  a  brief  interval  another  charge  was  led 
in  person  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Roosevelt,  who, 
taking  advantage  of  the  disorganization  caused 
among  the  Spaniards,  went  on  and  carried  a 
section  in  the  center  of  the  San  Juan  Range. 
Simultaneously  Kent's  Infantry  Division,  re- 
leased from  the  Spanish  fire  from  Kettle  Hill 
and  supported  by  the  fire  of  several  units  of  the 

[92] 


THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR 

Cavalry  Division  which  remained  on  that  hill, 
charged  and  carried  the  left  section  of  the  San 
Juan  Range.  The  troops  of  the  two  Divisions 
then  looked  down  upon  the  white  walls  of  the 
city  of  Santiago,  lying  helpless  at  their  feet.  Its 
fall  was  then  inevitable.  It  was  not  until  several 
hours  later  that  Lawton  finally  succeeded  in  cap- 
turing El  Caney. 

Colonel  Wood's  gallantry  and  ability  as  a 
brigade  leader  at  San  Juan  were  such  that  Shaf- 
ter  recommended  him  for  promotion  to  the  rank 
of  Brigadier-General  because  he  had  been  "so 
conspicuous  for  bravery  and  had  handled  his 
troops  so  well."  This  was  immediately  acted  upon 
by  President  McKinley,  his  promotion  taking 
place  under  date  of  July  8th,  1898. 

To  win  a  Generalship  by  gallantry  on  the  field 
of  battle  is  by  all  odds  the  highest  honor  within 
the  reach  of  a  field  officer,  and  was  attained  by 
only  two  others  during  active  hostilities  in  Cuba ; 
— Colonel  Carroll  of  the  6th  Regular  Cavalry, 
and  Colonel  McKibbon  of  the  21st  Regular  In- 
fantry. 

Leonard  Wood's  conduct  at  this  battle  showed 
that  he  was  not  the  type  of  brigade  commander 
who  sits  far  to  the  rear  and  directs  operations 
from  a  dugout,  on  the  theory  that  his  sacred 
person  is  too  valuable  to  his  country  to  be  exposed 
to  the  enemy's  fire.  No  matter  what  his  rank, 
whether  Major-General  or  Lieutenant,  Wood  has 

[93] 


LKONAHI)   WOOD 

never  asked  his  mrn  t<>  :•,<>  into  extreme  peril  or 
li.n  dship  without  tfoini;  \\  ilh  them. 

\\  hile  commandite!*  his  brigade  at  San  Juan 
his  horse  was  shot,  one  of  his  two  aides  was 
set  iously  wounded,  and  the  other  killed. 

I  lis  innate  dentoei  aev  was  detnonst  rated  hv  the 
faet  that,  aftet  the  hattle  was  over,  he  reverted 
to  his  profession  »>l  surgery  and  found  time  per- 
sonally to  dress  the  wounds  of  more  than  thirty 
ol  his  injured  enlisted  men. 

On  that  day  he  set  a  preeedent  for  his  staff 
otlteers  which  he  has  never  altered.  I  le  lias 
never  allowed  them  during  active  operations  to 
devote  their  entire  time  to  desk  w  01  k  at  the  reai . 
hut  has  by  his  example  encouraged  them  to  he 
true  Held  soldiers.  In  later  years  in  the  Philip 
pittes  his  aide  Ac  camps  could  always  he  found  at 
the  head  of  the  most  desperate  enterprises.  Two 
of  them  were  seriously  wounded  and  one  gained 
the  Congressional  Medal  of  Honor. 


With  the  fall  of  Santiago,  the  American  army 
was  faced  with  new  and  very  serious  problems, 

Spain  had  expected  the  American  invasion  oi 
Cuba  to  take  place  near  llabana  at  the  western 
end  of  the  island,  and  when  (icneral  Sha  Iter's 
expeditionary  forces  landed  .|oo  miles  awaj  at 
Daiquiri  near  Santiago,  at  the  southeastern  c\ 
tremity,  the  Spaniards  were  taken  by  surprise 
and  Santiago  had  no  reserve  supplies  of  any 
kind. 

[94] 


thi:  Spanish  amkrkan  wah 

The  Spanish  forces,  after  being  defeated  at 

San  Juan,  had  fallen  hack  a  disorganized  mob 
into  the  already  overcrowded  tropical  city  and 
were  there  besieged  by  the  Americans,  until  the 
rising  tide  of  sickness  and  starvation  forced  them 
to  surrender. 

The  city  was  not  only  filled  with  the  men  of 
the  disbanded  Spanish  Army,  but  was  surrounded 

by  undisciplined  bajids  of  so-called  "soldiers" 
from  the  Cuban  forces  who  were  ea-er  to  mur- 
der Spaniards,  .and  who  saw  no  reason  why  the 
surrender  of  the  enemy  should  be  made  to  in- 
terfere with  this  purpose. 

The  Generals  of  the  American  forces  were  ap- 
palled at  the  eondit  ions  of  tilth  and  disease  which 
they  found  on  entering  the  city,  and  which  it  was 
their  duty  to  remedy,  for  the  city  was  theirs  by 
conquest  and  with  it  came  the  responsibility  of 

administering  its  affairs. 

The  sanitary  situation  was  acute,  and  the  prob- 
lem of  clearing  these  Augean  stables  a  truly 
Herculean  one.  There  were  over  15,000  sick  in 
the  population  of  40,000.  No  one  cared  to  as- 
sume the  task  of  military  governor  except  Wood, 
who  volunteered. 

Because  of  the  brilliancy  of  his  military  record 
during  the  preceding  two  months,  the  old,  hard 
bitten,  regular  officers  recommended  that  the  new- 
est and  youngest  brigadier  of  the  army  be  granted 
his  request,  and  allowed  to  attempt  the  seemingly 
impossible  task. 

[95] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Santiago,  via  Haiti, 
August  4,  1898. 

4:17  P.  M. 
Adjutant-General,  U.  S.  A., 

Washington. 
....  I  think  General  Wood  is  by  far  the 
best  man  to  leave  in  command  of  this  post, 
and  perhaps  of  the  whole  district.  If  he  is 
not  to  have  the  entire  command,  I  would 
suggest  Lawton  as  the  only  other  man  in 
every  way  equipped  for  the  position 

Sh  AFTER, 

Major-General. 

Thus  Wood's  astounding  military  career,  which 
began  against  Geronimo,  continued  as  Colonel  of 
the  Rough  Riders,  and  culminated  as  Com- 
mander of  the  Second  Brigade  of  General  Joe 
Wheeler's  cavalry  division,  lifted  him  to  his  first 
executive  opportunity,  and  fairly  launched  a 
great  administrative  genius  upon  his  real  life's 
work. 

The  true  significance  of  that  career  is  found  in 
the  fact  that  it  served  him  as  a  stepping-stone 
from  the  profession  of  surgery,  which  limited 
and  circumscribed  his  peculiar  abilities,  and  lifted 
him  up  to  the  high  plane  of  administrative  work, 
in  which  his  executive  genuis  had  full  play,  and 
through  which  he  acquired  international  fame. 


[96] 


CHAPTER  VI 

GOVERNOR  OF  SANTIAGO 

Santiago  de  Cuba  had  for  more  than  two  cen- 
turies enjoyed  the  unenviable  reputation  of  be- 
ing the  most  pestilential  and  fever-ridden  spot 
in  the  world.  In  olden  times  it  was  a  common 
saying  among  merchant  skippers  that  the  city 
could  be  smelled  ten  miles  at  sea. 

It  possessed  no  street-cleaning  department  and, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  in  many  localities  the 
streets  served  not  only  as  highways  but  also  as 
open  sewers,  there  was  absolutely  no  system  of 
sewage,  and  no  plan  of  drainage  except  of  the 
most  accidental  kind.  Garbage  was  thrown  into 
the  streets,  there  to  lie  until  the  next  tropical 
storm  should  wash  it  down  the  gently  sloping 
Hillside  upon  which  the  city  was  built  into  the 
bay,  where  it  floated  about  among  the  shipping, 
until  it  was  eventually  washed  up  on  the  beaches 
to  decay  under  the  burning  sun. 

In  the  United  States  it  is  the  custom  to  sur- 
round houses  with  gardens ;  in  Spanish- American 
towns  the  reverse  is  true;  the  garden  is  in  the 
center  of  the  house,  and  the  house  is  built  around 

[97] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

it.  In  Santiago,  the  most  conspicuous  and  im- 
portant adjunct  of  this  "garden"  was  an  open 
cesspool,  which  was  seldom  if  ever  emptied  and 
was  the  ultimate  destination  of  all  domestic  sew- 
age, which  there  decayed  and  in  time  of  plague 
radiated  disease  throughout  all  the  household. 

The  city  was  surrounded  by  malarial  swamps 
and  jungles,  its  water  supply  was  full  of  typhoid 
germs,  and  even  in  normal  times  its  death  rate 
from  yellow  fever  was  the  highest  in  the  world. 
But  when  Leonard  Wood  became  governor,  the 
times  were  far  from  normal.  The  season  was  the 
most  unheal thful  of  the  year  and. the  city  was 
almost  without  water.  The  crowding  and  con- 
gestion during  the  siege  had  raised  the  daily 
death  rate,  from  yellow  fever  alone,  to  one-half 
of  one  per  cent,  a  day, — or  five  deaths  daily  for 
each  thousand  of  inhabitants.  The  death  rate 
from  all  causes  reached  four  hundred  a  day  in  a 
population  of  forty  thousand. 

So  many  of  the  city's  population  were  ill  that 
there  were  not  enough  well  people  to  care  for  the 
sick.  Such  numbers  died  daily  that  they  could 
not  be  buried,  but  lay  rotting  in  the  gutters 
among  other  refuse  or  in  the  empty  rooms  of  de- 
serted houses  where  the  bodies  decayed  and  bred 
new  pestilence.  Unclean  vultures  waddled  about 
the  streets,  or  roosted  full-fed  in  dismal  rows 
along  the  house-tops  until  ready  to  lurch  down 
into  the  street  to  gorge  themselves  anew. 

The  market  place  was  practically  deserted,  for 

[98] 


GOVERNOR  OF  SANTIAGO 

there  was  almost  no  food  for  sale  and  what  little 
was  offered  commanded  fabulous  prices  which 
denied  it  to  all  except  the  rich.  Meat,  which  had 
formerly  sold  for  from  five  to  ten  cents,  now 
brought  a  dollar  a  pound  in  gold  and  was  scarce 
even  at  that  price.  The  first  meal  which  General 
Wood  ate  in  Santiago  was  at  the  Cafe  Venus  in 
the  Plaza  de  Armas ;  it  cost  him  fourteen  dollars 
gold  and  the  piece  de  resistance  was  horse 
meat.  Bread  was  almost  unobtainable,  and  veg- 
etables could  not  be  had  at  any  price,  for  the 
transportation  system  had  been  disrupted  during 
the  military  operations,  and  there  was  no  way  of 
carrying  supplies  into  the  city  from  the  surround- 
ing country. 

Men  and  women,  weak  with  fever  and  hunger, 
sat  inert  and  hopeless  upon  their  doorsteps. 
Gaunt  children,  little  living  skeletons,  lay  apa- 
thetically in  corners. 

The  situation  required  a  man  of  unbounded 
resource  and  of  firm,  energetic  character.  It 
also  required  a  very  considerable  measure  of  spe- 
cial training.  The  difficulties  to  be  overcome 
were  to  an  equal  extent  sanitary,  political,  and 
military.  The  people  to  be  dealt  with  had  not 
the  faintest  idea  of  the  first  principles  of  sani- 
tation; and  having  only  just  been  freed  from 
slavery,  had  no  training  or  experience  in  self- 
government. 

To  master  the  situation  and  solve  its  compli- 
cated problems  there  was  needed  a  man  who  was 

[99] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

an  authority  on  modern  sanitation  and  medicine, 
and  who  was  at  the  same  time  an  adept  in  the 
control  of  men.  Leonard  Wood  possessed  both 
these  qualifications  to  a  preeminent  degree  and 
in  addition  was  a  competent  soldier,  a  necessary 
adjunct,  for  the  physician  and  law-giver  would 
have  been  powerless  unless  supplemented  by  the 
military  leader  endowed  with  the  knowledge  of 
how  to  apply  martial  law;  and  martial  law  is  a 
weapon  which  but  few  men  are  able  to  wield 
judiciously.1 

"The  matters  that  first  claimed  Governor 
Wood's  attention  were  the  feeding  of  the  starv- 
ing people  and  the  amendment  of  the  city's  sani- 
tary condition.  He  obtained  as  many  rations  as 
possible  and  these  were  issued  with  a  free  but 
careful  hand;  he  established  food  depots  at  vari- 
ous places;  and  before  forty-eight  hours  had 
passed,  actual  famine  had  been  brought  to  an 
end. 

"The  rations  which  he  issued  arrested  actual 
starvation,  and  very  soon  provisions  began  to 
come  from  the  ordinary  sources  and  by  the 
ordinary  ways.  As  the  supply  increased,  how- 
ever, there  was  no  diminution  of  prices.  He  sent 
for  the  aldermen  representing  the  different  wards 
of  the  city,  and  he  also  summoned  the  butchers. 

"  'How  much  do  you  charge  for  meat  V 

"  'Ninety  cents  a  pound,  senor.' 

"  'What  does  it  cost  you  ?' 

1  Quoted  from  McClure's,  March,  i8t>9. 
[IOO] 


GOVERNOR  OF  SANTIAGO 

"There  was  hesitation  and  a  shuffling  of  feet; 
then  one  of  the  butchers  said,  in  a  whining  voice: 

"  'Meat  is  very  dear,  your  excellency/ 

"  'How  much  a  pound?' 

"  'It  cost  us  very  much,  and ' 

"  'How  much  a  pound  ?' 

"  'Fifteen  cents,  your  excellency;  but  we  have 
lost  much  money  during  the  war  and ' 

"  'So  have  your  customers.  Now  meat  will  be 
sold  at  twenty-five  cents  a  pound  and  not  one 
cent  more.    Do  you  understand?' 

"Then,  turning  to  the  aldermen,  he  charged 
them  to  see  that  his  order  was  carried  out  to  the 
letter,  unless  they  wanted  to  be  expelled  from 
office. 

"Thenceforward  meat  was  sold  in  the  markets 
at  twenty-five  cents.  A  similar  reduction  was 
made  in  the  price  of  bread,  vegetables,  and  all 
food  products.  ...  It  was  the  first  showing  of 
the  master  hand  to  the  public,  and  confidence 
in  the  American  methods  of  administration 
strengthened  rapidly." 

Once  the  food  situation  had  been  regulated, 
Wood  turned  his  attention  to  matters  of  sanita- 
tion. He  realized  that  an  exceedingly  important 
element  in  the  temperament  of  the  Latin  races 
is  their  attitude  of  immobility  and  inertia  when- 
ever any  improvements  contrary  to  tradition  and 
custom  are  suggested.  Tradition  is  the  breath  of 
their  life,  and  logic  has  no  effect  upon  them  where 

[to*] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

precedent  is  involved.  When  logic  attacks  fixed 
custom  the  first  reaction  of  the  Latin-American 
is  Manana — "to-morrow  perhaps"; — the  second 
is  a  passive  mule-like  resistance; — the  third  ac- 
tive opposition,  which  savors  of  the  fanatic  de- 
fending his  convictions  and  beliefs. 

This  resistance  General  Wood  had  to  contend 
with  when  he  first  undertook  to  impose  drainage, 
street-cleaning,  and  sanitary  sewage-disposal 
upon  the  people  of  Santiago  de  Cuba.  The  popu- 
lar view  seemed  to  be  that  if  the  city  had  for  four 
centuries  managed  without  such  innovations,  that 
fact  was  sufficient  proof  that  Divine  Providence 
did  not  intend  their  introduction  at  this  late  date. 

It  is  doubtful  if  this  prejudice  could  possibly 
have  been  overcome,  except  under  stress  of  mar- 
tial law,  and  by  the  initial  employment  of  work- 
ing parties  of  American  soldiers.  It  was  not  until 
the  city  had  been  thoroughly  cleaned  by  the 
American  troops  assisted  by  native  civil  prisoners, 
and  the  value  of  the  scientific  sanitation  demon- 
strated by  results,  that  Wood  began  to  receive  in 
his  efforts  either  sympathy  or  assistance  from  the 
population. 

American  fatigue  parties  with  wagons  pro- 
ceeded throughout  all  quarters  of  the  city  collect- 
ing the  dead  bodies  of  disease-stricken  men  and 
animals.  These  being  the  most  deadly  among  the 
many  dangerous  forms  of  filth  were,  therefore, 
the  logical  initial  undertaking.    The  bodies  were 

[162] 


GOVERNOR  OF  SANTIAGO 

carted  out  of  the  city,  stacked  up  in  piles,  soaked 
with  kerosene,  and  burned. 

It  took  four  days  to  hunt  out  and  dispose  of 
all  the  dead  bodies ;  then  Wood  issued  the  follow- 
ing order:  "Every  householder  will  report  im- 
mediately to  the  Mayor  and  the  Military  Gov- 
ernor any  death  occurring  in  his  household.  Any 
person  failing  to  do  this  will  be  arrested  and  put 
at  hard  labor  on  the  streets  for  a  period  of  thirty 
days.  All  policemen  are  ordered  to  report 
promptly  to  the  Mayor  and  the  Military  Gover- 
nor all  deaths,  any  cases  of  malignant  fever,  and 
any  place  which  is  in  an  unhealthy  condition, 
coming  under  their  knowledge.  Failure  on  the 
part  of  any  policeman  to  do  this  will  be  followed 
by  severe  punishment." 

The  next  step  was  a  campaign  of  systematic 
street  cleaning,  for  the  fever  was  still  on  the  in- 
crease, and  the  officers  and  soldiers  who  worked 
under  Wood  were  decimated  by  it.  Not  a  day 
passed  but  a  score  sickened  and  went  to  hospital 
to  fight  for  life.  The  deaths  among  those  who 
fought  with  Wood  against  disease  in  Santiago 
exceeded  the  total  number  of  American  deaths  by 
battle  in  the  entire  Spanish-American  war.  Wood 
himself  contracted  both  yellow  fever  and  malarial 
fever  before  his  governorship  was  terminated. 
But  his  superb  constitution  and  his  grim  de- 
termination enabled  him  to  be  back  at  work  in 
each  case  within  ten  days  of  the  time  he  was 
first  taken  sick. 

[103] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

The  American  soldiers  doggedly  stuck  to  their 
task,  inspired  by  the  example  of  their  leader,  who 
outworked  them  all  and  who  in  his  daily  inspec- 
tions of  every  nook  and  cranny  of  the  city  shared 
their  exposure  to  infection.  Street  after  street 
was  cleaned  up,  beginning  with  the  most  im- 
portant and  ending  with  the  by-ways. 

As  soon  as  a  street  had  been  cleared  of  rubbish 
and  scraped,  it  was  treated  to  a  liberal  dose  of 
chloride  of  lime,  to  disinfect  the  polluted  ground. 
This  caused  loud  protests  from  the  population, 
who  did  not  object  to  time-honored  smells,  but 
rebelled  at  new-fangled  stinks  such  as  chloride 
of  lime. 

One  of  the  leading  citizens  came  to  Wood's 
headquarters  to  make  a  "very  grave  complaint. " 
It  seemed  that  the  well,  from  which  he  obtained 
his  drinking  water,  was  situated  in  the  same  yard 
with  his  cess-pool.  The  Americans  had  placed 
chloride  of  lime  in  the  cess-pool,  which  permeat- 
ing the  subsoil  of  the  yard,  had  given  an  unpleas- 
ant taste  to  the  well-water,  which  had  previously 
been  "delicious  to  the  taste." 

The  existing  stock  of  chloride  of  lime  and  other 
chemicals  soon  became  exhausted,  and  there  pre- 
sently developed  a  most  acute  need  of  both  chem- 
icals and  medicines.  There  was,  however,  no 
authorized  appropriation  for  their  purchase. 
When  funds  were  needed,  General  Wood  was  sup- 
posed to  requisition  for  them  to  Habana,  where 
his  requisition  was  examined  and,  if  approved, 

[104] 


GOVERNOR  OF  SANTIAGO 

forwarded  to  Washington,  where  it  would  be 
again  examined  by  various  departments  with  the 
possibility  that  after  six  months  or  more  the 
needed  money  might  be  expected  to  arrive.  Mean- 
while, he  had  plenty  of  money  in  his  charge,  for 
one  of  his  duties  was  to  collect  the  revenues  and 
taxes  of  Santiago. 

These  funds  he  was  supposed  to  forward  to 
Habana,  for  transmission  to  Washington.  But 
with  a  plague  of  sickness  on  his  hands,  he  boldly 
cut  through  all  this  red  tape  and  used  the  money 
he  collected  to  buy  the  medical  supplies,  which 
were  absolutely  necessary  in  conquering  disease. 
He  sent  forward  his  accounts  instead  of  the 
money,  and  took  a  chance  on  fighting  them 
through.  Meanwhile,  by  the  prompt  expenditure 
of  this  fund,  he  made  the  city  thoroughly  health- 
ful and  saved  thousands  of  lives,  not  only  among 
the  Cuban  natives  but  also  in  the  United  States 
forces. 

While  Wood  and  his  men  were  feeding 
the  starving,  burning  the  dead,  cleaning  the 
streets  and  caring  for  the  sick,  they  received  no 
encouragement  from  the  Cuban  residents;  the 
latter  held  aloof  and  never  even  so  much  as  called 
at  the  palace  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  new 
Governor. 

When  the  streets  were  finally  cleaned,  orders 
were  issued  against  throwing  into  them  any  more 
garbage.  Householders  were  instructed  to  ob- 
tain barrels  for  their  refuse  and  the  new  admin- 

[105] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

istration  took  steps  to  have  these  barrels  emptied 
daily.  Many  were  the  protests,  infractions  and 
convictions  which  resulted.  The  street-cleaning 
squads  were  daily  increased  by  those  who  had 
disobeyed  orders ;  for  the  standard  sentence  given 
by  the  military  courts  for  breaking  sanitary 
ordinances  was  "thirty  days'  street-cleaning." 

Step  by  step  the  battle  was  won.  General 
Wood  was  accused  of  interfering  with  the  per- 
sonal liberty  of  the  individual  citizens  when  he 
required  them  to  empty  their  cess-pools  and  have 
them  thoroughly  disinfected.  This  was  too  much 
for  the  Cuban  endurance.  It  was  bad  enough  for 
"these  crazy  Americans"  to  alter  the  century  old 
privileges  with  regard  to  throwing  garbage  into 
the  public  streets,  but  when  they  actually  came 
into  a  man's  private  yard,  it  was  positively  too 
much  for  endurance.  A  man's  home  is  his  castle, 
and  even  if  he  chooses  to  be  dirty, — and  oc- 
casionally sick, — is  it  any  one's  affair  but  his 
own?  Protests  and  remonstrances,  however, 
availed  nothing  for  the  final  argument  was  mar- 
tial law,  which  the  Governor  never  hesitated  to 
use  when  it  once  became  the  last  resort  to  secure  a 
necessary  result. 

Before  the  last  cess-pool  was  properly  emptied 
the  street  cleaners  had  so  many  "thirty  day  re- 
cruits" that  they  were  ahead  of  the  game  and  were 
able  to  take  up  gutter  and  sewer  building  as  a  side- 
line. And  this  logically  led  to  street  repairs  and 
the  laying  of  new  pavements.     The  first  street 

[106] 


GOVERNOR  OF  SANTIAGO 

which  Wood  paved  was  the  Calle  Marina,  the 
main  street. 

It  was  exactly  a  hundred  years  since  any  of 
Santiago's  streets  had  been  re-paved.  The  task 
was  a  long  one,  but  General  Wood  pushed  it  vigor- 
ously throughout  his  administration,  and  under 
that  impetus  the  work  continued  long  after  his 
departure,  until  finally  every  street  in  Santiago 
was  passable,  had  two  gutters  and  at  least  one 
stone  sidewalk. 

In  spite  of  the  press  of  emergency  work  in  the 
first  weeks  of  his  governorship  over  Santiago, 
Wood  nevertheless  found  time  to  start  an  inves- 
tigation of  the  city's  water  supply.  The  city  re- 
ceived water  from  public  hydrants  every  morn- 
ing, but  the  supply  invariably  gave  out  when  the 
day  was  five  or  six  hours  old. 

The  excentricity  of  the  water  supply  was  taken 
as  a  matter  of  course  for  it  had  behaved  that 
way  for  decades;  no  one  knew  where  it  came 
from,  nor  why  it  gave  out  by  noon,  nor  who  fur- 
nished the  water,  nor  what  power  caused  it  to 
flow. 

It  was  weeks  before  the  mystery  was  solved, 
but  eventually  an  American  officer  discovered  a 
crude  dam  in  the  mountains  nearly  ten  miles  from 
the  city.  This  dam  had  been  built  a  century  be- 
fore by  the  Spaniards,  but  no  official  had  taken  the 
trouble  to  inspect  it  during  a  decade.  It  was  much 
in  need  of  repairs,  and  water  leaked  out  of  it 
almost  as  fast  as  it  flowed  in.    It  was  managed 

[107] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

by  an  old  Spanish  water-tender  who  had  received 
his  last  pay  two  years  before,  but  had  neverthe- 
less stuck  to  his  post,  too  lazy  to  protest  effective- 
ly, too  lazy  to  stop  working  and  hunt  a  new  job. 

He  was  put  on  the  pay-roll  of  the  new  govern- 
ment, and  steps  were  taken  to  repair  promptly  the 
dam,  stopping  the  leaks  so  that  there  would  be 
water  enough  to  last  all  day  in  Santiago. 

Once  the  acute  problems  of  starvation  and 
fever  had  been  conquered  by  rationing  and  sani- 
tation Governor  Wood  turned  his  attention  from 
these  subjects  of  elemental  physical  importance  to 
considerations  of  education  and  finance,  wishing 
to  evolve  a  system  of  Cuban  law  and  order  which 
could,  at  an  early  date,  replace  the  arbitrary 
American  rule  of  martial  law,  with  its  courts- 
martial  and  its  provost  guards. 

He  caused  a  suspension  in  the  foreclosures  of 
mortgages,  establishing  what  was,  in  effect,  a 
moratorium  to  protect  small  shopkeepers  and 
farmers  from  losing  their  property  before  they 
had  had  a  fair  chance  to  recover  from  the  finan- 
cial derangements  incidental  to  the  capture  and 
invasion  of  their  city. 

He  then  devoted  himself  to  the  establishment 
and  improvement  of  public  schools,  and  caused 
English  to  be  included  in  the  curriculum. 

To  prepare  the  way  for  the  termination  of 
martial  law,  he  organized  a  gendarmerie  com- 
posed of  Cuban  soldiers,  and  led  by  ex-officers  of 
General  Garcia's  Cuban  Army  of  Liberation. 

[108] 


GOVERNOR  OF  SANTIAGO 

He  surrounded  himself  with  Cubans,  whom  he 
trusted  absolutely.  His  personal  secretary, 
through  whose  hands  passed  all  his  dispatches, 
reports  and  confidential  letters,  was  a  Cuban 
named  Alexander  Gonzales,  who  had  served  with 
old  General  Gomez,  a  fact  which  was  accepted  by 
the  Cubans  as  proof  positive  that  he  had  no  se- 
crets from  them  and  was  at  least  trying  to  work 
for  their  best  interests. 

Wood  was  always  accessible  to  Cubans.  Under 
Spanish  rule  it  had  taken  great  influence  to  see 
the  Governor-General,  and  even  then  an  appoint- 
ment had  to  be  made  days  ahead.  When  Wood 
became  Governor  all  this  was  changed.  A 
strange  Cuban  would  come  into  his  anteroom,  and 
say  hesitatingly  to  an  Aide-de-Camp : — 

"Would  it  perhaps  be  possible  for  me  to  get 
an  appointment  to  see  the  Governor  ?" 

"Certainly.     Right  away?" 

"Now?" 

"Yes,  this  minute.  There  he  is  through  those 
swinging  doors.  Go  right  in.  Announce  your- 
self." 

"To  this  day,"  wrote  Ray  Stannard  Baker  in 
1900,  "the  visitor  at  Santiago  wonders  at  the 
apathy  of  the  Cubans  over  the  marvelous  im- 
provements in  their  city, — its  beautiful  pave- 
ments, its  clean  alleys,  its  enlarged  water  sys- 
tem, and  its  reorganized  hospitals. 

"  'Yes,  the  pavements  are  good/  a  Cuban  said 
to  me  grudgingly;  'but  most  of  our  people  are 

[109] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

just  as  well  off  without  them.  The  asphalt  hurts 
their  heels.' 

"These  really  wonderful  public  works,  prose- 
cuted in  spite  of  many  difficulties,  have  made 
General  Wood  famous  wherever  English  is 
spoken;  but  they  did  not  at  first  add  appreciably 
to  his  glory  among  the  Cubans. 

"There  are  not  only  many  men  in  this  or  in 
any  other  country  who  could  have  gone  into  the 
Santiago  of  August,  1898,  with  its  thousands  of 
dead  and  dying,  its  reeking  filth,  its  starvation, 
its  utter  prostration,  and  made  of  it  in  four 
months'  time  a  clean,  healthy,  orderly  city.  An- 
other soldier  might  have  been  chosen  who  could 
have  preserved  order  as  well  as  did  General 
Wood,  a  lawyer  might  have  reorganized  the  ju- 
dicial system,  and  a  physician  reestablished  the 
hospital,  but  it  would  not  have  been  easy  to  find 
another  man  with  the  varied  mental  equipment 
and  the  requisite  physical  endurance  to  serve  in 
a  tropical  country  as  lawmaker,  judge,  and  gov- 
ernor all  in  one;  to  build  roads  and  sewers;  to 
establish  hospitals;  to  organize  a  school  system 
and  devise  a  scheme  of  finance;  to  deal  amicably 
with  a  powerful  church  influence;  and  yet  to  re- 
main, in  spite  of  such  autocracy,  the  most  popu- 
lar man  in  the  province." 

When  Governor  Wood  left  Santiago  for  his 
first  vacation  to  the  United  States  in  the  spring 
of  1899,  all  Santiago  came  down  to  see  him  off, 
cheered  him  to  the  echo,  and  presented  him  with 

[no] 


GOVERNOR  OF  SANTIAGO 

an  illuminated  diploma,  which  read:  "From  the 
people  of  Santiago  de  Cuba  to  General  Leonard 
Wood.  The  greatest  of  your  many  successes  is 
to  have  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  a  peo- 
ple in  trouble.,, 


I"** 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE   WOOD    METHOD 


There  is  no  more  interesting  study  than  the 
analysis  of  the  methods  used  by  America's  great 
administrators  and  executives.  Our  history  is 
one  continuous  record  of  their  triumphs,  as  shown 
in  the  building  up  of  organizations  with  which 
to  conquer  seemingly  insurmountable  difficulties, 
■ — physical,  political  and  spiritual.  Their  successes 
now  constitute  the  warp  and  woof  of  our  na- 
tional life.  Their  struggles  and  triumphs  have 
become  a  vital  part  of  our  public  consciousness. 

Yet  the  methods  by  which  our  military,  leg- 
islative, or  economic  administrators  have  accom- 
plished their  ends,  have  received  less  attention 
than  the  results  which  they  obtained,  although 
from  an  educational  point  of  view  the  methods 
are  not  less  important  of  the  two.  For  every  man 
who  has  left  a  record  of  achievement,  there  have 
been  hundreds  who  have  failed  to  accomplish  any- 
thing of  importance  only  because  each  one  of 
them  lacked  the  knowledge  to  combine  into  an 
harmonious  unit,  numbers  of  men  united  by 
his  ideals,  loyal  to  his  person,  and  enthusiastic 
to  carry  out  the  details  of  his  policies. 

[112] 


THE  WOOD  METHOD 

Leonard  Wood  is  one  of  the  greatest  adminis- 
trators that  America  has  ever  produced,  and  it 
is  correspondingly  instructive  to  analyze  the  sys- 
tem by  which  he  achieved  his  extraordinary  re- 
sults as  Governor  of  the  Province  of  Santiago, 
as  Governor  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  as  Governor 
of  the  Moro  Province,  as  Commander  of  the 
Philippines  Division,  as  Chief  of  Staff  of  the 
United  States  Army,  and  as  initiator  of  Officers' 
Training  Camps. 

His  method  has  already  endured  the  two  most 
severe  tests  to  which  any  leadership  can  be  sub- 
jected. On  the  one  hand,  it  has  lived  through 
years  of  popular  applause  and  general  apprecia- 
tion; on  the  other,  it  has  survived  and  con- 
tinued to  produce  the  results  he  sought,  during 
periods  when  his  work  was  accorded  almost  no 
public  recognition,  when  every  possible  official 
effort  was  systematically  made  to  keep  him  in 
the  background,  and  when  reports  were  subtly 
spread  derogatory  to  his  mental  and  physical  con- 
dition, to  his  discretion  and  even  to  his  patriotism. 

That  Leonard  Wood  steadily  held  together  and 
added  to  his  following,  through  periods  of  repres- 
sion and  depression,  is  the  highest  possible  tribute 
to  his  personal  power  and  to  his  right  of  leader- 
ship. That  his  reputation  and  influence  have 
steadily  grown,  through  good  and  ill  report,  is 
high  testimony  to  the  soundness  of  his  system. 
When  one  considers  the  high  class  of  men  who 
offer  him  allegiance  and  who  look  to  him  for 

["3] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

guidance,  it  is  a  splendid  tribute  to  his  character, 
and  a  twice  valuable  evidence  of  the  success  of 
that  "Wood  Method,"  which  has  become  a  pro- 
verb and  which  is  so  clean  cut  and  definite  that 
it  might  serve  as  a  model  for  future  organizers. 

All  leaders  confer,  or  are  supposed  to  confer, 
with  their  co-workers ;  but  there  are  two  distinct 
methods  of  utilizing  such  conferences.  In  one, 
a  leader  first  fully  makes  up  his  own  mind  on 
the  questions  under  consideration,  and  then  calls 
together  his  advisors,  announces  his  decision,  and 
measures  their  loyalty  by  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  they  acquiesce  in  his  decision.  This  is  a 
method  which  can  achieve  large  and  lasting  suc- 
cess only  when  the  age  is  an  autocratic  one,  and 
the  leader  a  superman  like  Napoleon  or  Fred- 
erick the  Great. 

The  second  method  presupposes  a  leader  who 
has  the  ability  to  select  big  men  as  his  direct  sub- 
ordinates, demanding  of  them  only  that  they  be 
actuated  by  his  ideals  and  by  the  desire  to  work 
towards  the  same  ultimate  ends,  and  not  that  they 
shall  invariably  recast  their  minds  to  the  mold 
of  his  preconceived  decisions.  Such  a  leader 
when  faced  with  a  problem  calls  together  his  ad- 
visors and  associates  while  his  own  mind  is  yet 
in  a  state  of  suspended  judgment. 

When  interviewed  by  the  writer  upon  this  sub- 
ject, General  Wood  said: — 

"Every  successful  administrator  must  among 
other  gifts  possess  two  fundamental  qualifica- 

["4] 


THE  WOOD  METHOD 

tions  for  leadership: — he  must  have  the  ability 
to  select  the  men  best  fitted  for  the  work  as- 
signed to  them,  and  the  power  so  to  coordinate  the 
activities  of  the  men  selected  that  they  may  func- 
tion as  an  effective  unit. 

"An  efficient  executive  will  have  his  own  def- 
inite policy  by  which  his  subordinates  will  be  guid- 
ed, but  to  them  he  will  leave  the  details  of 
execution.  He  must  have  an  instinctive  grasp  of 
the  situation  as  a  whole,  and  know  by  intuition  if 
these  subordinates  are  harmoniously  working  out 
his  general  plan.  He  cannot  without  waste  of 
valuable  time  himself  attend  to  details  but  he 
must,  subconsciously  as  it  were,  be  aware  of  the 
efficiency  and  faithfulness  of  each  one  working 
under  him. 

"An  administrator  facing  a  multiplicity  of  im- 
portant problems  cannot  hope  to  know  more  than 
his  assistants  about  each  one  of  their  specialties ; 
presupposing,  of  course,  that  these  advisors  have 
been  selected  in  a  sincere  effort  to  obtain  the 
most  competent  men  available. 

"The  successful  executive  must  seek  and  duly 
consider  the  opinions  of  his  subordinates,  and 
of  men  who  are  experts  on  the  subjects  under 
discussions.  Then  and  then  only  should  he  begin 
forming  his  own  conclusions.  This  is  the  judicial 
method ;  the  truly  democratic  one. 

"It  is  the  method  necessarily  used  by  the  phy- 
sician diagnosing  a  complicated  case  of  physical 

["5] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

ills ;  a  method  which  can  be  applied  quite  as  suc- 
cessfully to  a  diagnosis  of  public  affairs. 

'The  best  example  of  this  sort  of  leader- 
ship is,  of  course,  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was 
great  enough  to  select  and  hold  together  a  group 
of  men,  who  could  furnish  him  with  the  soundest 
advice  on  all  public  questions,  although  several  of 
them,  like  Secretary  of  War  Stanton  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief McClellan,  were  personally  hos- 
tile to  him  and  felt  for  him,  in  the  beginning  at 
least,  neither  admiration  nor  confidence. 

"The  ability  to  respect  and  accept  suggestions 
from  subordinates  is  a  fundamental  principle  of 
all  administrative  success,  and  not  the  least  of  its 
uses  is  the  important  part  it  plays  in  winning 
their  loyal  support.  Their  enthusiasm  and  loyalty 
are  greatly  enhanced  if  they  are  allowed  to  help 
formulate  the  plans  which  they  are  later  to  aid 
in  carrying  out. 

"Not  only  must  a  subordinate  be  loyal  to  his 
chief,  but  it  is  quite  as  important  that  a  chief  be 
loyal  to  his  subordinates,  and  both  to  the  Gov- 
ernment they  are  serving.  This  implies  frank- 
ness and  definiteness  in  dealing  with  an  assistant; 
sincere  and  cordial  support  as  long  as  he  is  ef- 
ficient and  prompt  and  fearless  removal  as  soon 
as  he  demonstrates  his  unfitness  for  the  work 
assigned  him." 

When  this  step  becomes  necessary  Wood  always 
courteously  gives  a  complete  explanation  of  his 
reasons,  thus  enabling  the  man  to  understand  for 

[116] 


THE  WOOD  METHOD 

himself  the  cause  of  the  change.  He  does  this 
with  such  kindness  and  consideration  that  many 
of  his  most  ardent  supporters  are  men  whom  he 
has  been  obliged  to  remove  from  office. 

"No  organization  can  continue  to  be  success- 
ful/' he  says,  "unless  the  leader's  support  of 
the  subordinate  is  contingent  upon  the  lat- 
ter's  efficiency,  for  the  continued  maintenance 
in  office  of  an  unproductive  individual  is  pure  fa- 
voritism, and  favoritism  will  wreck  the  morale  of 
an  organization  more  quickly  than  any  other  ele- 
ment of  decay.  No  personal  feeling  can  be  al- 
lowed to  obscure  the  leader's  judgment  nor  in- 
duce him  to  retain  a  man  who  has  proved  unable 
to  accomplish  the  task  set  for  him.  He  may  keep 
as  a  friend  but  cannot  retain  as  a  co-worker  one 
who  proves  himself  too  small  for  the  job  assigned 
to  him." 

Leonard  Wood's  power  to  win  the  confidence 
of  his  subordinates  is  extraordinary.  The  loyalty 
which  he  receives  is  that  of  strong  men  of  great 
individual  ability,  and  often  of  a  wide  divergence 
of  personal  opinion,  welded  together  by  a  har- 
mony of  ideals  and  a  tolerance  and  respect  for 
each  other's  opinions. 

He  has  always  been  quick  to  realize  that  an 
administrator  must  decentralize ;  that  the  greater 
his  task  and  the  larger  the  number  of  his  as- 
sistants, the  more  he  must  trust  and  support 
them.  But  this  is  impracticable  unless  the  sub- 
ordinates return  in  full  the  trust  of  their  chief. 

[117] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

He  never  forgets  that  a  good  administrator 
must  be  the  servant,  not  the  master,  of  the  peo- 
ple for  whom  he  works.  His  attitude  reminds 
one  of  the  old  saying  that  the  Pope  is  "The 
servant  of  the  servants  of  God." 

The  time  has  long  since  passed  when  loyalty 
of  men  towards  their  leader,  or  of  a  people  to 
their  ruler,  need  not  be  reciprocal.  Even  as  long 
ago  as  the  French  Revolution,  Louis  XVI  was 
guillotined  for  what  his  subjects  conceived  to  be 
disloyalty  to  France  and  to  the  French  people. 
The  American  Colonies  revoked  their  allegiance 
to  King  George  III  of  England  because  he  had 
first  cancelled  his  loyalty  to  them. 

Yet  few  superiors  are  truly  loyal  to  their  sub- 
ordinates. Only  too  often,  even  in  military  life, 
a  leader  gives  his  officers  verbal  orders;  then  if 
success  results  he  assumes  all  the  credit,  while 
if  failure  supervenes  he  allows  them  to  be  blamed, 
saying  either  that  they  disobeyed  or  exceeded  his 
order,  or  that  they  were  too  stupid  to  understand 
it. 

Leonard  Wood  goes  to  the  other  extreme,  and 
in  every  case  assumes  all  the  responsibility  for 
the  acts  of  his  subordinates,  since  it  was  he  who 
selected  them,  trained  them  in  their  work,  and 
maintained  them  in  office.  They  know  that  Wood 
and  Wood  alone  will  justly  deal  out  to  them  re- 
ward or  punishment;  if  the  man  in  error  is 
competent  and  rarely  makes  mistakes,  his  failure 
will  be  overlooked;  but  if  he  fails  often,  he  will 

[118] 


THE  WOOD  METHOD 

be  shifted  to  other  work  more  suited  to  his  train- 
ing and  temperament. 

In  1904,  towards  the  end  of  his  Governorship 
of  the  Moro  Province,  it  became  necessary  to 
wage  a  decisive  campaign  in  the  Island  of  Jolo, 
against  a  band  of  renegades  who  had  gradually 
been  collected  from  the  outlaws  of  the  section. 
They  had  made  their  headquarters  in  an  old  ex- 
tinct volcano,  which  was  about  half  a  mile  in  di- 
ameter and  towered  two  thousand  feet  above  the 
surrounding  jungle.  It  was  by  tradition  a  sort  of 
holy  mountain,  in  whose  sanctuary  they  believed 
themselves  safe  from  capture.  There  was  an 
ample  supply  of  the  all  necessary  drinking  water 
in  the  crater. 

These  renegades  were  slave-dealing,  poly- 
gamous, Mohammedan  savages  who  would 
neither  allow  their  neighbors  to  live  in  peace,  nor 
acknowledge  any  law  or  control  for  themselves. 
They  were  irreconcilable  and  kept  their  part  of 
the  Philippines  in  constant  turmoil  with  their 
pillagings,  their  slave-hunts  and  their  murders. 
Their  fanatical  hatred  of  everything  Christian 
made  them  prefer  death  in  battle,  and  the  result- 
ing attainment  of  the  Mohammedan  seventh 
heaven,  to  submission  to  white  men. 

They  were  the  only  group  in  the  Moro  Prov- 
ince which  as  a  whole  had  been  proof  against 
Governor  Wood's  patience,  diplomacy  and  arbi- 
tration. 

It  is  one  of  his  most  definite  characteristics 

[119] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

that  he  never  shirks  an  unpleasant  duty,  and  when 
these  renegades  had  finally  become  the  only  un- 
pacified  clan,  when  during  eight  months  all  at- 
tempts at  arbitration  had  failed,  and  when  it  was 
evident  that  they  would  never  submit,  he  approved 
a  campaign  against  them. 

The  work  was  allotted  to  a  reenf  orced  regiment 
under  Colonel  Duncan,  who  eventually  drove  the 
tribe  into  the  interior  of  their  crater. 

The  robbers  having  positively  refused  to  sur- 
render, guns  were  taken  up  by  hand  or  by  block 
and  tackle,  and  the  hill  was  stormed  with  heavy 
losses,  amounting  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
American  troops  engaged.  The  battle  ended  on 
the  restricted  floor  of  the  crater  in  a  terrible 
hand-to-hand  melee,  bayonet  against  bolo.  The 
outlaws,  who  neither  asked  nor  gave  quarter, 
were  nearly  all  killed.  In  the  excitement  of  the 
battle  a  number  of  women,  whose  habitual  cos- 
tume included  trousers  and  was  otherwise  similar 
to  Moro  masculine  attire,  met  death  fighting  side 
by  side  with  their  men. 

A  garbled  account  of  their  fate  reached  the 
United  States,  and  resulted  in  a  congressional  in- 
vestigation which  seemed  to  demand  a  scapegoat, 
and  was  likely  to  ruin  someone's  career.  Gen- 
eral Wood  was  cabled  for  an  immediate  explana- 
tion. He  sent  a  reply,  the  gist  of  which  was: — 
"I  will  investigate.  Colonel  Duncan  deserves  all 
credit  for  winning  the  battle.  I  assume  entire  re- 
sponsibility for  the  action  of  the  troops  in  every 

[120] 


THE  WOOD  METHOD 

particular.  I  do  not  believe  that  in  this  or  in  any 
other  fight  American  soldiers  killed  a  Moro 
woman  unless  unavoidably  in  close  action."  And 
he  fought  it  out  along  those  lines,  protecting  Dun- 
can. 

Wood's  loyalty  to  his  subordinates  is  bound- 
less. It  is  the  keynote  of  his  administrative  suc- 
cesses. In  his  personal  character  it  is  his  most 
striking  trait,  save  only  his  devotion  to  Ameri- 
canism. He  considers  his  men  before  himself, 
and  never  forgets  any  one  of  them  who  has 
served  him  faithfully,  no  matter  in  how  humble  a 
capacity. 

An  interesting  example  of  this  occurred  in 
19 1 6,  while  he  was  stationed  at  Governor's  Island 
as  Commander  of  the  Eastern  Department. 

He  arrived  at  his  office  about  8:30  one  morn- 
ing to  find  a  telegram  from  a  woman  in  Indiana 
named  Blizzard,  stating  that  her  husband  was 
detained  at  the  Immigration  Department  at  Ellis 
Island,  and  asking  the  General  to  have  him  re- 
leased. The  telegram  gave  no  intimation  of  the 
cause  of  detention  and  no  clew  as  to  the  man's 
identity.  The  General,  however,  immediately  re- 
membered him  as  one  of  his  old  soldiers,  and  an 
aide-de-camp,  who  arrived  shortly  before  nine 
o'clock,  found  the  General  occupied  in  personally 
telephoning  to  Ellis  Island. 

It  developed  that  the  man  had  no  money  and 
no  proof  of  identity,  and  was  violently  insane. 
He  had  just  been  returned  from,  Mexico,  and  his 

[121] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

insanity  was  due  to  ill  treatment  at  the  hands  of 
Mexicans  during  the  only  period  of  our  history 
when  American  citizens  in  foreign  countries  were 
denied  protection  by  their  own  government. 

Our  immigration  laws  forbid  entrance  into  the 
country  of  either  paupers  or  the  insane,  unless 
they  are  American  citizens  and  can  produce  proof 
of  that  fact,  which  barred  Blizzard  until  proof  of 
his  identity  could  be  produced. 

General  Wood,  upon  learning  these  details,  im- 
mediately dispatched  to  Ellis  Island  both  an  army 
surgeon  and  his  personal  orderly,  Sergeant 
Heintzman,  who  had  formerly  served  with  Bliz- 
zard; the  surgeon  to  examine  the  man  and 
make  certain  that  he  was  receiving  proper  medi- 
cal attention;  the  Sergeant  to  identify  him  and 
permit  his  entrance  into  the  country. 

The  General  also  telegraphed  the  State  authori- 
ties of  Indiana  to  arrange  for  the  man's  transfer 
to  an  Indiana  Insane  Asylum. 

Meanwhile  the  General  had  Blizzard  trans- 
ferred to  a  hospital  near  his  own  headquarters  on 
Governor's  Island,  and  visited  him  there  every 
few  days.  On  his  first  visit  the  general  wore  a 
blue  uniform  of  the  old  type;  this  caused  Blizzard 
to  have  a  violent  seizure  because  it  was  to  him. 
the  symbol  of  the  country  which  had  abandoned 
him;  in  his  subsequent  visits  the  General  there- 
fore wore  khaki. 

Eventually  Blizzard  was  sent  to  an  asylum  in 
Indiana,  near  his  own  home,  where  he  received 

[122] 


THE  WOOD  METHOD 

every  care;  he  was,  however,  beyond  help,  and 
died  about  a  year  later. 

The  aide-de-camp  asked  General  Wood  why  he 
had  taken  so  much  personal  interest  in  the  man, 
and  received  this  answer : — "He  served  under  me 
eighteen  years  ago  in  Havana  as  a  stenographer 
and  he  never  watched  the  clock.,, 

Wood's  great  powers  of  endurance  and  his 
ability  to  sustain  long  hours  of  intense  activity, 
either  mental  or  physical,  have  always  been  with 
his  subordinates  a  most  important  point  in  his 
favor,  for  although  it  is  part  of  his  system  to  de- 
mand of  them  a  tremendous  amount  of  work,  he 
himself  outworks  them  all.  At  night  the  last 
light  to  be  extinguished  in  headquarters  is  usually 
his  own,  and  he  is  the  first  at  work  in  the  morn- 
ing. 

It  is  the  rule  of  his  own  personal  office  that 
every  letter  be  properly  disposed  of  the  same  day 
it  is  received.  Sometimes,  in  the  morning,  his  big 
desk  is  piled  high  from  end  to  end,  with  reports 
and  correspondence,  with  more  coming  in  every 
hour,  but  no  matter  how  voluminous  the  accumu- 
lation he  never  lets  up  at  night  until  every  paper 
is  disposed  of.  He  goes  through  them  like  a 
snow-plow  pushing  through  a  drift.  He  has  the 
grip  of  a  bulldog  on  any  task  he  once  undertakes. 

"An  administrator,"  he  says,  "should  excel  all 
his  subordinates  in  his  devotion  to'  their  common 
cause.    His  self-sacrifice  in  behalf  of  their  ideals, 

[123] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

his  hours  of  labor,  and  his  endurance  should  ever 
exceed  theirs.  He  must  give  the  example.  He 
must  set  the  pace. 

"He  must  realize  that  his  own  task  is  not  so 
much  material,  as  moral  and  psychological.  By 
his  example,  he  must  embue  each  one  of  the  de- 
partments under  his  direction  with  a  spirit  of 
mutual  cooperation  and  support,  not  merely  to- 
wards himself  but  also  towards  each  other.  This 
should  include  a  desire  to  understand  the  work 
of  others,  a  fraternal  tolerance  each  of  the  other's 
mistakes  or  apparent  mistakes,  and  a  cheerful, 
constant  watchtulness  each  of  the  other's  in- 
terests. 

"To  be  entirely  successful  this  spirit  must  be 
founded  upon  some  idealism,  such  as  patriotism, 
religious  conviction,  altruism,  devotion  to  public 
service,  or  family  loyalty.  In  our  American  uni- 
versities it  is  called  college  spirit.  It  underlies 
the  team-work  to  which  universities  owe  their 
football  championships. 

"Team-work  is  largely  inspired  and  instilled 
by  the  team  Captain,  who  must  himself  be  an  un- 
swerving believer  in  his  team's  ultimate  success. 

"An  administrator,"  continued  General  Wood, 
^must  be  able  to  decentralize.  In  giving  orders 
to  a  subordinate  he  must  explain  what  is  desired 
in  terms  of  results,  without  going  into  sugges- 
tions and  details  as  to  methods  by  which  to  ac- 
complish those  results.    This  not  only  saves  time, 

[124] 


THE  WOOD  METHOD 

but  is  an  acknowledgment  of  the  fact  that  an 
intelligent  subordinate,  on  the  ground,  devoting 
all  his  thought  and  energy  to  a  task  is  a  better 
judge  as  to  the  ways  and  means  than  his  superior, 
occupied  with  many  other  things  and  tied  to  his 
headquarters. " 

One  of  Wood's  old  aides  said  to  me:  "The 
first  duty  he  gave  me  was  to  make  a  certain  in- 
vestigation, and  to  recommend  the  subsequent  ac- 
tion to  be  taken.  After  completing  the  investiga- 
tion, I  made  out  a  typewritten  memorandum, 
stating  my  conclusions  and  my  recommendations. 

"When  I  took  this  to  the  General  he  held  it  in 
his  hand,  and  without  even  glancing  at  it,  asked 
if  I  were  satisfied  with  the  solution  I  had  worked 
out.  I  replied  in  the  affirmative.  Still  without 
reading  the  memorandum,  he  handed  it  back  and 
directed  me  to  draw  up  the  orders  necessary  to 
carry  out  that  recommendation. 

"This  threw  upon  me  a  responsibility  I  had 
not  expected,  and  I  spent  a  whole  day  going  over 
my  work  again,  before  I  finally  dared  draw  up  the 
orders. 

"This  experience  showed  me,  more  than  any 
amount  of  talk,  that  what  he  wanted  was  a  staff 
officer  who  would  relieve  him  of  details. 

One  of  the  many  reasons  for  the  love  and  re- 
spect which  Wood  invariably  receives  from  his 
subordinates  is  his  ability  to  make  definite  deci- 
sions promptly,  thus  allowing  business  to  proceed 
without  delay.    When  an  assistant  refers  to  him 

[125] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

a  matter  upon  which  hinges  all  further  action  the 
necessary  decision  is  always  received  on  the  min- 
ute, and  in  brief,  decisive  words  which  leave  no 
room  for  doubt  or  hesitation. 

As  one  who  has  worked  under  General  Wood, 
I  wish  to  say  in  conclusion  that  he  is  the  most 
satisfactory  superior  in  the  world.  The  princi- 
pal reasons  for  this  are  that  his  subordinates  are 
encouraged  to  take  the  initiative  and  to  assume 
responsibility;  that  they  are  helped  to  grow  and 
to  develop;  that  they  are  judged  by  results  and 
are  not  deserted  if  they  get  into  trouble;  that  his 
ability  to  render  quick,  accurate  decisions  enables 
them  to  keep  busy  and  to  carry  each  appointed 
task  to  a  prompt  and  successful  conclusion. 


[126] 


CHAPTER  VIII 

APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

A  very  difficult  problem  of  Colonial  Adminis- 
tration faced  the  United  States  in  1899.  We  had 
freed  Cuba  from  the  Spaniard's  misrule  and 
were  desirous  to  withdraw  and  leave  the  Cubans 
to  manage  their  own  internal  affairs.  We  were, 
however,  unable  to  do  this  immediately  because 
the  war  had  left  the  country  in  a  state  of  com- 
plete anarchy  which  for  the  moment  made  self- 
government  utterly  out  of  the  question. 

Yet  to  remain  in  occupation  was  to  invite  from 
all  Cubans  the  suspicion  that  we  intended  to  an- 
nex their  island,  a  suspicion  which  increased  in 
strength  with  every  month  that  we  remained  in 
possession,  and  which  might  fairly  be  expected 
eventually  to  result  in  an  insurrection  against  us 
similar  to  the  one  which  did  actually  take  place 
the  same  year  in  the  Philippines  under  like  con- 
ditions. 

The  Cubans  desired  immediate  independence 
with  a  persistent  impatience  which  made  them 
chafe  under  the  slightest  delay.  For  generations 
they  had  suffered  and  fought  in  the  long  struggle 
for  personal  liberty  and  national  freedom  until 

I>7]i 


LEONARD  WOOD 

the  desire  for  it  had  become  the  ingrained  obses- 
sion of  their  nature  that  they  could  not  be  patient 
under  any  arguments  of  mere  expediency.  They 
were  unwilling  or  unable  to  appreciate  any  rea- 
sons for  postponement. 

Their  suspicions  were  constantly  fanned  into* 
flames  by  certain  Americans  who  openly  and  per- 
sistently claimed  that  the  Cubans  were  perma- 
nently unsuited  for  self-government.  These 
Americans,  through  the  press,  advocated  annexa- 
tion and  spread  the  idea  that  this  was  not  only 
for  Cuba's  ultimate  best  interest  but  was  really 
desired  by  the  better  class  of  Cubans  themselves. 
In  consequence  the  great  mass  of  the  Cuban  peo- 
ple began  to  look  upon  the  American  flag  as  a 
blight  upon  their  land,  and  were  rapidly  becom- 
ing overwhelmingly  anti-American.  All  their  po- 
litical factions  and  all  their  newspapers  were  in- 
creasingly unfriendly. 

They  feared  exploitation  by  the  American. 
They  feared  his  industries  and  his  capital.  They 
feared  him  because  he  had  so  easily  and  so  quick- 
ly whipped  the  Spaniards,  against  whom  they 
had  struggled  in  vain  for  so  many  decades.  They 
disliked  the  individual  American  for  his  energy, 
for  his  physical  superiority,  for  his  ridicule  of 
the  duel,  for  his  direct  brusque  manners  which 
completely  ignored  the  courtesies  and  amenities 
so  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  Latin. 

They  were  out  of  sympathy  with  the  form  of 
civilization  offered  by  the  intruder,  with  its  puri- 

[128] 


APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

tanism,  and  its  conventionality,  its  disrespect  for 
traditions,  its  lust  for  sanitation,  its  disapproval 
of  bull-fights  and  cock-fighting. 

Gratitude  is  short-lived,  and  the  newborn  sus- 
picion of  the  American  motives  had  already  sup- 
planted the  memories  of  the  treasure  and  the 
lives  which  the  United  States  had  expended  to 
free  Cuba  from  Spain.  The  very  magnitude  of 
America's  sacrifice  made  Cubans  more  suspicious 
for,  made  cynical  by  centuries  of  Spanish  oppres- 
sion, they  said:  "Is  it  not  inconceivable  that  the 
Americans  should  have  sacrificed  so  many  lives 
and  spent  so  much  money  for  mere  Brotherly 
Love?" 

Roosevelt,  keenly  interested  in  everything  per- 
taining to  Cuba,  well  outlined  the  problems  we 
then  faced. 

"1  am  certain  that  if  the  Cubans  show  them- 
selves entirely  fit  to  establish  and  carry  on  a  free 
and  orderly  government  the  great  mass  of  my 
fellow-citizens  will  gladly  permit  them  to  decide 
for  themselves  the  destiny  of  Cuba  and  will  allow 
them  to  be  independent  if  they  so  desire. 

"But  I  am  also  certain  that  our  people  will  not 
permit  the  islands  again  to  sink  into  a  condition 
of  squalid  and  savage  anarchy.  .  .  . 

"In  these  tropical  and  far-off  lands  good  gov- 
ernment has  got  to  be  secured  mainly  not  from 
Washington,  but  from  the  man  sent  to  admin- 
ister the  provinces. 

"What  is  really  essential  is  to  have  first-class 
[129] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

men  chosen  to  administer  these  provinces,  and 
then  to  give  these  men  the  widest  possible  lati- 
tude as  to  means  and  methods  for  solving  the 
exceedingly  difficult  problems  set  before  them. 

"Most  fortunately  we  have  in  General  Wood 
the  exact  type  of  man  we  need;  and  we  have  in 
his  work  *  *  *  in  Santiago  an  exact  illustration 
of  how  the  work  should  be  done.,, 

Secretary  of  War  Root  wrote  as  follows  of  the 
Cuban  situation  as  it  was  in  1899: 

"There  were  not  a  dozen  Cubans  who  believed 
that  the  United  States  was  going  to  keep  faith 
with  them.  We  were  daily  on  the  verge  of  the 
same  sort  of  thing  that  happened  to  us  in  the 
Philippines ;  namely,  of  having  these  people,  who 
for  years  had  fought  for  their  independence  and 
who  believed  that  we  were  going  to  hold  them  in 
subjection  in  the  same  way  that  Spain  held  them, 
take  to  the  woods  and  begin  another  insurrection, 
this  time  against  us. 

"And  I  can  tell  you  that  I  had  an  uneasy  time 
with  the  apprehension  that  any  morning  the 
newspapers  might  contain  the  news  of  American 
troops  firing  on  Cubans. 

"There  was  a  most  urgent  necessity  of  getting 
the  best  man  we  could  to  do  that  most  difficult 
and  serious  work.  And  I  went  to  President  Mc- 
Kinley  and  told  him  that  I  was  satisfied  that 
General  Wood  was  the  man.  And  he  said,  'All 
right;  go  ahead./ " 

[130] 


APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

Therefore  Leonard  Wood  was  appointed  Gov- 
ernor of  Cuba. 

His  predecessor,  Captain-General  Weyler,  the 
Spanish  Governor-General,  had  received  a  salary 
of  $60,000  and  in  addition  to  this  had  been  pro- 
vided with  an  entertainment  fund  of  $25,000  a 
year.  He  commanded  fifty  generals  and  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  million  soldiers,  yet  had  failed  either 
to  subdue  or  govern  the  Island.  The  more  his 
Spanish  soldiers  slew  Cuban  rebels,  who  in  their 
eyes  were  incorrigible  criminals,  and  the  oftener 
they  dragged  them  before  Spanish  judges  for  sen- 
tence, the  more  odious  and  hated  became  the 
name  of  Spain  throughout  all  Cuba. 

Wood  went  to  Havana  and  established  his  office 
in  the  old  Spanish  palace  from  which  Cuba  had 
been  oppressed  and  misruled  for  so  many  genera- 
tions. He  sat  in  the  chair  of  Weyler  the 
Damned,  dispensing  democratic  justice  where  its 
former  occupant  had  exercised  the  most  pitiless 
tyranny. 

From  his  windows  he  could  look  upon  the  old 
tower  from  whose  casemated  windows  De  Sota's 
wife  watched  so  many  long  years  for  the  return 
of  the  discoverer  of  the  Mississippi,  and  could 
also  see  the  Cathedral  which  for  several  centuries 
had  contained  the  body  of  Columbus. 

Amid  traditions  inherited  from  Spain  and  dat- 
ing from  the  Middle  Ages,  he  set  up,  in  place  of 
the  medieval  system  of  oppression  which  had  been 
crushed,  the  democracy  "of  the  people,  for  the 

[131] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

people,  by  the  people"  after  the  truest  ideals  of 
Americanism. 

His  administration  in  Cuba  has  been  likened  to 
a  curious  mixture  of  old  town-meeting  republi- 
canism and  absolute  autocracy ;  he  never  used  his 
authority  for  the  sake  of  exercising  it  as  the 
Spanish  governors  had  so  often  done,  but  when 
it  was  the  last  resort  he  set  his  jaw  and  used  it 
to  the  limit. 

When  he  assumed  office,  the  Island  was  in- 
fested with  bandits  and  renegades  of  the  worst 
type  whose  pillaging  and  lawlessness  cried  out 
for  immediate  suppression.  Regiments  of  Amer- 
ican troops  under  his  command  were  ready  and 
anxious  for  action. 

Nevertheless  one  of  his  first  official  acts  was 
to  pass  regulations  excluding  his  soldiers  from 
the  duty  of  running  down  or  arresting  Cuban 
criminals.  To  have  had  Americans  capture  or 
kill  even  this  outcast  class  of  Cubans  might  have 
resulted  in  making  martyrs  of  them,  and  causing 
hatred  and  increased  suspicion  of  the  Americans. 

He  appointed  Cuban  judges  to  sit  in  judgment 
on  Cuban  criminals  and  establish  their  guilt  by 
Cuban  standards.  To  use  his  own  words,  Gov- 
ernor Wood  insisted  upon  letting  the  Cubans  "do 
their  own  rat-killing.,, 

He  organized  a  Constabulary  or  Rural  Guard 
of  less  than  two  thousand  natives,  and  this  hand- 
ful of  men  under  his  direction  were  able  to  re- 
store order  and  maintain  it,  a  task  in  which  Wey- 

[132] 


APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

ler  with  200,000  Spaniards  had  hopelessly  failed. 

As  finally  organized  it  consisted  of  15  troops, 
totaling  1,604  officers  and  men,  stationed  at  247 
different  posts,  and  so  distributed  as  completely 
to  control  the  Island.  It  was  commanded  by 
Brig.  General  Alejandro  Rodriguez,  a  famous 
soldier  of  the  wars  for  Cuban  Liberation.  He 
had  direct  supervision  over  its  work  in  each  of 
the  six  Cuban  provinces.  Each  provincial  chief 
of  the  Rural  Guard  ranked  as  a  lieutenant-colonel ; 
his  command  consisted  of  two  or  more  troops  and 
each  troop  was  commanded  by  a  captain  and  two 
lieutenants.  A  captain  was  held  responsible  for 
public  order  in  the  section  of  the  province  to  which 
his  command  was  assigned. 

Promotions  were  made  only  from  among  its 
own  members,  and  in  order  to  win  a  commission 
a  man  must  start  as  a  private.  This  system  pro- 
duced excellent  morale,  and  as  a  result  the  Guard 
never  became  a  political  organization  but  was 
a  thoroughly  efficient  force,  comparing  favorably 
with  any  similar  organization  in  older  republics. 

A  fair  and  just  policy  of  discipline  was  pur- 
sued. Any  abuse  of  authority  was  severely  pun- 
ished, while  a  proper  performance  of  duty  was 
always  sustained,  no  matter  what  the  results 
might  be  or  how  powerful  the  individual  arrested 
by  the  Guard. 

Thus  public  order  was  almost  immediately  re- 
stored and  property  and  life  became  safer  in  Cuba 
than  in  the  United  States.     Indeed,  during  the 

[133] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

whole  period  of  Leonard  Wood's  Governorship 
there  was  only  one  instance  of  train  robbery  or 
robbery  of  the  mails,  when  a  courier  who  was 
carrying  mail  and  dispatches  between  Holguin 
and  Santiago  in  the  fall  of  1898  was  killed  and 
robbed  by  bandits,  who  were  later  arrested  by 
the  Rural  Guard,  tried  and  convicted  by  Cuban 
judges,  and  sentenced  to  life  imprisonment  in  a 
penitentiary  entirely  run  by  Cubans. 

Having  taken  these  necessary  steps  to  stabil- 
ize the  country,  Governor  Wood  was  able  to  de- 
vote undivided  attention  to  other  matters.  He 
made  it  his  policy  to  surround  himself  with 
Cubans,  as  he  had  done  at  Santiago,  and,  giving 
them  his  full  confidence,  he  began  with  their  help 
and  advice  the  study  of  his  administrative  prob- 
lems. 

These  problems  were  exceedingly  complex. 

It  was  necessary  to  build  up  a  republic  in  a 
country  which  hitherto  had  been  a  military  colony, 
and  which  was  prostrated  by  four  years  of  in- 
cessant and  destructive  warfare;  where  general 
elections  as  we  understand  the  term  were  un- 
known; where  the  vast  majority  of  the  prospec- 
tive voters  were  illiterate,  and  where  heretofore 
no  native  had  been  allowed  to  hold  office. 

It  was  not  only  necessary  to  draft  new  electoral 
laws,  but  to  teach  the  people  how  to  read  and 
write  so  that  they  could  learn  the  laws  and  be 

[134] 


APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

trained  to  use  them  wisely;  could  read  their  bal- 
lots and  cast  their  votes. 

It  was  necessary  practically  to  rewrite  the  ad- 
ministrative law  of  the  land,  including  the  laws 
relative  to  railways,  sanitation,  taxation,  chari- 
ties, hospitals,  public  works,  and  schools ;  and  to 
establish  a  sound  system  of  accounting  and  audit- 
ing for  public  moneys,  that  the  new  republic 
might  eventually  start  on  its  career  well-equipped, 
free  from  debt,  with  a  balance  in  the  treasury. 

On  the  one  hand  serious  friction  with  the  Cu- 
bans had  to  be  avoided  at  a  time  when,  to  quote 
again  Mr.  Root's  words,  "there  were  not  a  dozen 
Cubans  who  believed  that  the  United  States  was 
going  to  keep  faith  with  them."  On  the  other 
hand,  unscrupulous  Americans  with  great  politi- 
cal or  financial  influence  had  to  be  prevented  from 
exploiting  or  cheating  the  natives. 

The  Island  had  for  many  years  been  subdivided 
into  six  provinces, — Santiago,  Puerto  Principe, 
Santa  Clara,  Matanzas,  Pinar  del  Rio,  and  Ha- 
bana.  Pending  the  first  general  election,  Gen- 
eral Wood  appointed  civil  Governors  over  these 
provinces.  Although  he  was  entirely  at  liberty 
to  select  Americans  to  fill  these  positions,  all  six 
of  the  men  chosen  were  nevertheless  Cubans,  and 
five  of  them  had  served  as  Generals  in  the  Cuban 
Army  of  Liberation.  In  fact  98  per  cent,  of  all 
the  officials  appointed  by  Wood  in  Cuba  were 
Cubans. 

[135] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

The  provinces  had  long  been  subdivided  into 
townships,  of  which  there  were  128  in  all  Cuba 
when  Wood  became  Governor. 

In  the  two  eastern  provinces,  Santiago  and 
Puerto  Principe,  which  included  57  per  cent,  of 
the  total  area  of  the  Island,  there  were  only  twen- 
ty-two municipalities.  The  municipalities  of  these 
two  provinces  were  thoroughly  efficient  in  pro- 
tecting public  interests  and  were  much  more  eco- 
nomically administered  than  those  of  the  prov- 
inces of  the  west. 

In  the  four  western  provinces  a  very  different 
state  of  affairs  existed,  for  although  they  in- 
cluded within  their  limits  only  forty-three  per 
cent,  of  the  total  area  of  the  Island,  they  were 
nevertheless  divided  into  106  municipalities,  a 
great  many  of  which  had  been  created  by  the 
Spaniards  for  political  reasons  subsequent  to  the 
war  of  1 869- 1 878.  Their  excessive  number  added 
greatly  to  the  expense  of  the  National  Govern- 
ment ar  d  was  justified  by  no  corresponding  ben- 
efit to  the  general  management  and  conduct  of 
public  affairs. 

The  suppression  of  these  municipalities  had 
been  demanded  for  a  long  time,  as  they  were  lack- 
ing in  the  population  and  resources  necessary 
to  furnish  the  needed  revenues  for  the  proper 
and  efficient  maintenance  of  their  government. 
Governor  Wood  deemed  it  absolutely  essential 
that  this  reduction  should  be  accomplished  under 
the  military  government,  as  later  it  would  be  dif- 

[136] 


APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

ficult  for  the  administration  which  would  succeed 
him  to  carry  out  radical  measures  of  this  char- 
acter. 

Governor  Wood  gradually  abolished  many  of 
those  small  municipalities,  whose  existence  was 
not  justified  by  any  necessity  and  entailed  a  great 
unwarranted  burden  of  taxation,  until  forty-six 
had  finally  been  consolidated  with  other  larger 
townships.  The  alcaldes  and  officials  who  were 
about  to  lose  their  jobs  vehemently  protested 
against  the  innovation.  It  meant  for  them  the 
loss  of  the  little  mantle  of  authority  with  which 
they  had  been  clothed,  and  the  discontinuance  of 
the  small  salaries  which  they  had  received. 

Nevertheless  the  consolidations  were  gradually 
carried  out  and,  when  completed,  resulted  in 
municipalities  having,  as  a  rule,  not  less  than 
12,000  inhabitants,  and  territory  with  a  sufficient 
number  of  properties  in  production  to  yield  the 
necessary  income  for  the  maintenance  and  sup- 
port of  such  public  obligations  as  they  are  called 
upon  to  fulfill. 

Governor  Wood  had  superseded  General 
Brooke  who  had  not  understood  the  Cubans  and 
who  had  not  been  liked  by  them.  The  govern- 
ment which  he  inherited  from  Brooke  was  largely 
made  up  of  Americans.  It  was  organized  into 
four  departments  presided  over  by  four  Ameri- 
can civil  secretaries,  who  formed  the  Governor's 
cabinet.    These  departments  were  ( 1 )  State  and 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Government;  (2)  Justice  and  Public  Instruction; 
(3)  Agriculture,  Commerce,  Industries  and  Pub- 
lic Works,  and  (4)  Finance. 

The  four  incumbent  American  civil  secretaries 
offered  Wood  their  resignations,  which  were  ac- 
cepted. After  careful  consultations  with  Cubans 
he  made  arrangements  to  increase  the  number  of 
the  national  government  departments  from  four 
to  six.  Justice  and  Public  Instruction  were  sepa- 
rated ;  and  Public  Works  was  divided  from  Agri- 
culture, Commerce  and  Industries.  These  radi- 
cal steps  were  taken  only  after  a  careful  investi- 
gation had  shown  that  the  two  original  depart- 
ments were  too  large  and  unwieldly,  and  that 
each  had  been  handling  two  classes  of  administra- 
tive work  in  no  way  related  to  each  other. 

While  the  mechanical  part  of  this  reorganiza- 
tion was  taking  place  Governor  Wood  scoured 
Cuba  to  discover  the  Cubans  best  fitted  to  fill 
the  six  cabinet  positions.  He  already  knew  much 
about  the  qualifications  of  the  various  public  men 
of  Cuba,  acquired  from  his  work  and  contact  with 
them  in  Santiago;  this  knowledge  he  supple- 
mented by  consultations  with  many  leading  Cu- 
bans. His  old  friend  General  Gomez  was  of 
great  assistance  to  him  in  his  efforts  to  find  the 
best  cabinet  material. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  some  of  the  men 
he  finally  selected  were  not  only  distinctly  anti- 
American  but  were  personally  hostile  to  the  Gov- 
ernor himself,  but  as  soon  as  he  was  convinced 

[138] 


APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

that  they  were  the  best  men  in  Cuba  for  the  po- 
sitions, he  not  only  invited  them  to  serve,  but 
persuaded  them  to  accept. 

It  has  always  been  characteristic  of  him  that 
he  not  only  invariably  selects  the  most  competent 
and  expert  men  to  serve  as  his  subordinates,  but 
is  always  able  completely  to  ignore  any  previous 
personal  opposition  towards  himself,  and  to  per- 
suade even  his  opponents  to  work  under  him  har- 
moniously ;  he  then  supports  them  so  loyally  that 
they  soon  fit  into  his  organization  and  work  en- 
thusiastically and  effectively.  This  is  largely  due 
to  the  fact  that  he  never  resents  an  honest  dif- 
ference of  opinion  on  the  part  of  an  associate  or 
subordinate,  and  never  assumes  the  mental  at- 
titude that  any  one  who  disagrees  with  him  must 
have  a  puny  intellect. 

He  realized  that,  even  in  so  small  a  nation  as 
Cuba,  the  chief  executive  could  not  possibly  be  all- 
wise  and  omnipotent  and  that,  provided  he  used 
proper  care  in  selecting  his  cabinet  officers,  the 
latter  would  inevitably  know  more  than  he  about 
their  particular  specialties. 

Senor  Diego  Tamayo  became  Secretary  of 
State.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  acknowledged 
ability,  formerly  a  member  of  the  Central  Com- 
mittee of  the  Autonomist  Party,  and  later  a  lead- 
ing spirit  in  the  conservative  element  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary Party.  He  had  also  been  President  of 
the  Academy  of  Sciences.  He  had  never  been  an 
active  participant  on  the  field  of  battle,  but  had 

[i39] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

repeatedly  represented  his  country  at  home  and 
abroad  in  positions  of  great  diplomatic  impor- 
tance. 

Senor  Lius  Estevez  y  Romero,  a  noted  Cuban 
jurist,  was  made  Secretary  of  Justice.  Senor 
Juan  Bantiste  Hernandez  Barreiro,  Professor  of 
Roman  Law  at  the  University  of  Havana,  be- 
came Secretary  of  Public  Instruction;  General 
Rius  Rivera,  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  Commerce 
and  Industries;  Senor  Jose  Ramon  Villalon,  a 
civil  engineer  of  great  ability  and  a  graduate  of 
Lehigh  University,  Secretary  of  Public  Works; 
and  Senor  Enrique  Jose  Varona,  a  Cuban  banker, 
Secretary  of  Finance. 

In  addition  to  large  staffs  of  native  Cubans, 
the  cabinet  officers  were  provided  with  a  few 
American  assistants,  who  worked  under  their 
orders  and  in  that  way  instilled  American  meth- 
ods of  efficiency  into  Cuban  affairs. 

Each  of  the  six  provincial  governments  was 
provided  with  a  cabinet  which  in  a  general  way 
followed  the  lines  of  Governor  Wood's  national 
cabinet,  the  members  of  which  supervised  and  co- 
ordinated the  work  of  their  subordinates  in  the 
various  townships  of  their  province. 

In  addition  to  the  six  national  departments, 
headed  by  cabinet  officers,  there  were  at  first  cer- 
tain independent  bureaus  which  were  not  placed 
under  the  direct  jurisdiction  of  any  one  of  the 
six  departments,  but  remained  under  the  direct 
supervision  of  the  Governor.    These  included  the 

[140] 


APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

Customs  Service,  from  which  Cuba  obtained  near- 
ly her  entire  income ;  the  Treasury,  which  paid  out 
all  public  funds;  and  the  Auditor,  who  had 
charge  of  examining  the  accounts  and  vouchers 
submitted  by  public  servants.  For  the  time  being 
these  three  departments  were  presided  over  by 
carefully  selected  American  officers. 

Governor  Wood,  having  thus  fashioned  the  va- 
rious tools  with  which  he  was  to  work,  set  out 
upon  his  long  and  arduous  task  of  reconstruc- 
tion and  administration. 


[ho 


CHAPTER  IX 

GOVERNOR   OF    CUBA 

Although  the  results  obtained  during  Leon- 
ard Wood's  governorship  of  Cuba  were  spectacu- 
lar in  the  extreme, — were  in  fact  absolutely  un- 
precedented, his  methods  were  so  moderate  and 
diplomatic  that  there  are  no  crises  to  study  and 
no  exciting  moments  to  depict. 

His  administration  was  a  strictly  business  one, 
and  he  made  no  pretense  of  obtaining  results 
by  startling  get-there-quick  methods,  but  pro- 
ceeded by  patient,  plodding,  drudgery  along 
the  lines  of  carefully  thought-out  plans  founded 
upon  sound  economic  principles.  The  great  bulk 
of  the  work  was  accomplished,  under  his  super- 
vision, by  his  six  carefully  selected  and  thorough- 
ly competent  Cuban  cabinet  officers  and  their  re- 
spective departments  of  State,  of  Agriculture,  of 
Justice,  of  Education,  of  Public  Works  and  of 
Finance. 

Their  work  was  so  colossal  in  scope  and  so  gi- 
gantic in  volume  that  it  is  impossible  here  to  more 
than  touch  upon  a  few  points  illustrative  of  the 
whole.     This  may  perhaps  best  be  done  by  con- 

[142] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

sidering  the  six  departments  in  turn,  commencing 
with  the  State  Department. 

This  Department  was  in  direct  touch  with  the 
six  Cuban  provincial  governors,  who  were  re- 
sponsible to  it,  and  through  it  to  Governor  Wood. 
The  alcaldes  (presidents  of  the  townships)  were 
in  turn  responsible  to  the  provincial  governors. 

The  difficulties  in  the  reorganization  of  the 
townships,  through  which  measures  of  govern- 
ment were  directly  applied  to  the  people,  were  ex- 
ceedingly great,  for  the  work  had  to  be  performed 
by  men  who  in  most  instances  were  without  pre- 
vious experience  in  business  or  in  government. 

During  the  first  eight  months  of  his  governor- 
ship all  township  officers  were  Cubans  appointed 
by  Wood,  either  directly  or  upon  the  recommenda- 
tion of  his  military  and  civil  subordinates.  Al- 
though every  effort  was  made  to  select  suitable 
men  the  only  ones  willing  to  accept  office  were,  in 
many  cases,  men  from  the  revolutionary  army 
who  had  been  efficient  in  the  field,  but  were  not 
qualified  for  the  discharge  of  civil  duties  nor  for 
the  upbuilding  and  reorganizing  of  the  shattered 
municipalities  over  which  they  were  selected  to 
preside. 

Moreover,  they  were  much  hampered  in  the 
performance  of  their  official  duties  by  the  con- 
tinued prevalence  of  old  customs  and  ideas  which 
had  in  the  past  been  responsible  for  an  almost 
entire  destruction  of  public  spirit.  There  was  a 
tendency  to  an  abnormally  large  personnel,  and 

[143] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

an  outlay  for  official  salaries  entirely  dispropor- 
tionate to  other  expenditures  and  much  greater 
than  was  necessary  to  perform  the  proper  work 
of  the  municipality,  which  came  primarily  from 
the  old  system  of  too  many  officials  and  too  few 
hours  of  work. 

So  discouraging  and  far-reaching  had  been  the 
effects  of  the  war,  that  the  municipalities  were 
practically  without  revenues  from  municipal  tax- 
ation, and  were  deeply  in  debt.  In  order  that 
the  entire  energies  of  the  country  might  be  de- 
voted to  reconstructing  the  agricultural  interests 
upon  which  the  island's  prosperity  depended,  it 
was  Governor  Wood's  policy  to  assist  them  in 
every  way  possible  until  the  harvesting  of  the  first 
crop,  and  until  affairs  should  be  placed  upon  a 
somewhat  stable  and  normal  basis. 

This  necessitated  allotments  from  the  general 
revenues  of  the  Island,  since  the  amount  of 
money  received  from  the  collection  of  local  taxes 
was  so  insignificant  that  the  salaries  of  munici- 
pal officials  were  about  all  that  could  be  paid  from 
that  source.  The  Central  Government  paid  in 
full  from  its  own  revenues  the  other  expenses  of 
the  different  municipalities,  such  as  the  cost  of 
administration,  courts,  police,  sanitation,  sewage, 
jails,  hospitals  and  asylums. 

Yet,  after  paying  all  these  expenses,  the  Cen- 
tral Government  was  still  called  upon  at  the 
close  of  the  calendar  year  1899  to  make  good 
further  municipal  deficits  amounting  to  nearly 

[144] 


LEONARD  WOOD   AS  GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 


GOVERNOR  WOOD'S  HEADQUARTERS  IN  HABANA 


THE   AMERICAN"   ARMY  ENTERING    HABANA 


THE   CUBAN   RURAL  GUARD 

Organized  by  Governor  Wood  to  preserve  order  among  their  countrymen. 


HABANA   HARBOR 


MORRO    CASTLE 


[145 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

$300,000.  Such  large  deficits,  incurred  after  the 
state  itself  had  paid  all  the  principal  cost  of  main- 
tenance, made  it  apparent  that  the  municipalities 
were  not  attempting  to  collect  their  proper  rev- 
enues; a  systematic  series  of  investigations  con- 
firmed this  fact.  In  consequence  Wood  published 
a  general  order  to  the  effect  that  the  state  would 
not  pay  any  municipal  deficits  incurred  subsequent 
to  December  31,  1899,  but  would  continue  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  police,  public  instruction,  jus- 
t'ce,  jails,  asylums,  charities,  hospitals,  and  sanita- 
tion, until  further  notice. 

What  was  needed  more  than  anything  else  for 
the  proper  management  of  municipal  affairs  was 
the  creation  of  a  public  spirit  aiming  at  economical 
and  efficient  conduct  of  all  municipal  business. 
This  spirit  was  so  totally  lacking  that  the  people 
were  too  indifferent  even  to  protest  against 
abuses  or  to  submit  charges  against  alcaldes  and 
city  councils. 

No  more  striking  illustration  of  this  lack  of 
public  spirit  manifested  itself  than  the  condition 
of  the  prisons.  The  prison  system  of  the  Island 
consisted  of  the  presidio  or  penitentiary  of  Ha- 
bana,  the  provincial  prisons  at  the  capital  of  each' 
of  the  six  provinces,  and  the  district  prisons  in 
the  judicial  districts. 

The  six  provincial  prisons  situated  respectively 
in  Habana,  Pinar  del  Rio,  Matanzas,  Santa 
Clara,  Puerto  Principe,  and  Santiago  were  all 
comparatively  large  prisons,  but  were  conducted 

[145] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

with  little  system,  the  sole  object  being  to  retain 
the  prisoners  within  the  walls.  The  administra- 
tion of  prisons  had  been  one  of  the  most  medieval 
features  of  the  Spanish  Government  in  old  Cuba, 
and  when  Governor  Wood  assumed  control  of  the 
Island  he  found  conditions  worse  than  ever  as 
they  were  without  proper  arrangements  for  sani- 
tation, cooking,  lighting,  or  ventilating.  Bathing 
facilities  and  sanitary  arrangements  were  of  the 
crudest  possible  description  or  were  entirely  lack- 
ing. There  was  no  system,  looking  toward  the 
reformation  of  the  inmates.  Hardened  criminals 
with  previous  convictions  and  young  boys  await- 
ing trial  were  herded  together.  The  sole  purpose 
was  always  to  punish,  never  to  correct. 

Records  were  imperfectly  kept;  in  many  cases 
prisoners  awaiting  trial  had  no  idea  of  the 
charges  under  which  they  were  held,  nor  of  the 
date  of  their  trial,  nor  had  they  any  means  of 
procuring  witnesses.  They  were  often  detained 
for  months  awaiting  trial  and  then  discharged  for 
lack  of  evidence,  their  small  plantations  in  the 
meantime  having  been  ruined  and  their  families 
scattered.  Very  few  of  the  persons  arrested  and 
charged  with  crime  were  able  to  furnish  bail,  and 
many  of  them  from  remote  points  in  the  interior 
were  unable  to  communicate  with  their  witnesses. 
The  judicial  authorities  were  inactive  in  procur- 
ing witnesses  and  bringing  cases  to  trial.  The 
result  of  all  these  conditions  was  that  the  jails 
were  overcrowded. 

[i46] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

Orders  were  promptly  published  by  Governor 
Wood  requiring  that  prisoners  detained  and 
awaiting  trial  should  be  kept  apart  from  those 
already  sentenced  and  that  boys,  whether  sen- 
tenced or  awaiting  trial,  should  be  separated  from 
adult  prisoners. 

All  the  prisons  were  thoroughly  cleaned  up  and 
nearly  all  received  general  repairs,  which  in 
some  places  amounted  almost  to  reconstruction. 
Wherever  possible,  bathing  facilities  were  fur- 
nished and  the  condition  of  ventilation  improved. 
Suitable  bedding  was  supplied.  Immediate  steps 
were  taken  to  install  modern  cooking  apparatus 
and  proper  sanitary  arrangements.  Steam  kitch- 
ens and  steam  laundries  were  established  in  all 
prisons. 

Another  problem  which  perplexed  the  Depart- 
ment of  State,  and  illustrates  the  difficulty  and 
scope  of  its  work,  was  the  question  of  the  orphans 
of  dead  soldiers,  and  the  children  of  destitute 
parents  who  had  lost  everything  in  the  war. 
[They  were  found  in  such  numbers  that  measures 
to  care  for  them  systematically  were  imperative. 
Governor  Wood  was  opposed  to  the  principle  of 
institutionalizing  the  children,  and  every  effort 
was  made  to  place  each  orphan  in  a  home,  where 
it  was  visited  from  time  to  time  by  a  traveling 
agent  of  the  government.  This  method  proved 
far  superior  to  that  of  segregation  in  orphan 
asylums. 

[147] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

The  hospitals  of  Cuba  were  found  to  be  hospi- 
tals in  name  only.  They  were  without  equipment, 
without  sanitary  arrangements,  or  any  system  of 
nursing.  Proper  methods  of  hospital  adminis- 
tration were  accordingly  introduced  and  in  the 
larger  hospitals  training  schools  for  nurses  were 
started,  Cuban  girls  of  ability  and  good  character 
being  placed  under  the  instruction  of  nurses  from 
the  United  States. 

Homes  for  the  aged  and  infirm,  and  refuges 
for  lepers  were  also  organized. 

The  insane  asylums  were  found  to  be  in  very 
bad  condition.  In  the  one  at  Mazorra  near  Ha- 
bana  the  suffering  and  mortality  during  the  last 
years  of  the  war  were  frightful;  in  two  years 
there  had  been  900  deaths  among  the  1,200  in- 
habitants. 

Governor  Wood's  predecessor  had  already 
commenced  the  work  of  reconstruction  in  this  es- 
tablishment, a  work  which  was  continued.  Plans 
were  drawn  up  for  new  buildings  which  would 
render  the  control  and  treatment  of  the  insane 
much  more  easy  and  beneficial. 

When  Leonard  Wood  was  appointed  Military 
Governor  of  Santiago  in  1898,  he  found  most  of 
the  insane  people  in  civil  hospitals  where  they 
were  sometimes  confined  in  little  wooden  boxes 
or  pens  which  in  some  instances  were  placed  on 
wheels,  the  general  effect  being  that  of  a  large 

[148] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

dog  kennel.  In  size  they  were  about  ten  feet 
long,  five  feet  wide  and  seven  feet  high,  with  a 
door  in  front  and  in  the  door  was  a  small  grat- 
ing through  which  food  and  water  and  other  sup- 
plies were  passed.  On  one  side,  secured  to  the 
wall,  was  a  board  about  fourteen  inches  wide 
which  served  as  a  bed. 

In  many  towns  the  insane  were  found  in  the 
prisons  where  no  effort  was  made  to  effect  their 
cure.  The  conditions  which  existed  tended  to  in- 
crease rather  than  modify  the  malady  of  the  in- 
mates. 

Early  in  the  year  1900  Governor  Wood  issued 
orders  that  all  the  insane  through  the  Island 
should  be  sent  to  the  general  asylum  at  Mazorra, 
where  special  efforts  were  made  to  protect  them 
and  also  to  prevent  undue  advantage  being  taken 
of  persons  under  charge  of  insanity. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture,  Commerce  and 
Industry  of  Cuba  was  practically  non-existent  be- 
fore Leonard  Wood's  governorship,  and  its  pol- 
icy and  personnel  had  to  be  built  up  from  nothing. 
It  soon  became  one  of  the  most  important  de- 
partments of  the  Island. 

Cuba  is  essentially  an  agricultural  country  and 
derives  its  wealth  principally  from  the  soil.  Frost 
is  unknown  and  the  opportunities  for  the  agricul- 
turists and  planters  are  unexcelled.  Her  lands 
are  fertile  to  a  wonderful  degree,  but  had  been 
only  slightly  developed. 

[149] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

The  largest  crop  was  sugar  and  even  prior  to 
the  liberation  there  had  been  annual  harvests  of 
over  a  million  tons,  and  this  large  yield  was  made 
while  only  a  small  portion  of  the  available  sugar 
lands  were  under  cultivation. 

In  the  mountains  of  the  east  some  of  the  best 
coffee  in  the  world  was  grown,  and  in  former 
times  this  industry  was  extensive ;  but  it  had  been 
largely  destroyed  during  the  ten  years'  war. 

Fine  cocoa  was  produced  in  large  amounts. 
Lemons  and  oranges  of  excellent  quality  also 
grow  with  little  cultivation. 

The  tobacco  raised  on  the  Island  was  the  finest 
in  the  world. 

In  addition  to  the  most  important  work  of 
aiding  and  coordinating  the  cause  of  agriculture, 
the  Department  of  Agriculture,  Commerce  and 
Industry  had  also  to  take  under  its  supervision 
patents  and  trade-marks,  mines,  forests,  and  fish- 
eries, and  was  charged  with  making  complete 
surveys  of  Government  lands  and  forests  and 
also  with  patrolling  the  coast  and  enforcing  the 
fishery  laws. 

The  department's  first  Secretary,  General  Rius 
Rivera,  took  up  its  organization  with  energy  and 
devoted  himself  to  establishing  it  upon  a  sound 
basis.  Seiior  Rivera  resigned  on  May  I,  1900, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Senor  Perfecto  Lacoste, 
president  of  the  Planters'  Association  and  a  man 
who  had  always  been  deeply  interested  in  the  de- 
velopment of  agriculture.    He  was  a  graduate  of 

[150] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  particu- 
larly well  qualified  for  the  task  assigned  to  him. 

A  tremendous  amount  of  research  and  admin- 
istrative work  was  carried  on  in  relation  to  sugar 
and  fruit  plantations,  forestry,  sponge  and  tor- 
toise fisheries,  mines,  fisheries,  and  cattle  ranch- 
ing; and  also  with  problems  relating  to  labor  and 
railways. 

Under  Leonard  Wood's  administration  labor 
was  constantly  encouraged  and  protected.  Strikes 
were  few  in  number  and  were  settled  by  arbitra- 
tion. After  being  signed  by  the  interested  par- 
ties, the  final  agreements  were  embodied  in  a  gov- 
ernment order.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Gov- 
ernor saw  to  it  that  the  agreements  were  lived  up 
to  absolutely  by  both  parties;  he  positively  re- 
fused to  tolerate  bad  faith  on  the  part  either  of 
employers  or  of  labor  leaders. 

He  dealt  with  the  Cuban  railways  on  a  basis  of 
private  ownership  under  government  control,  and 
was  the  first  who  had  ever  put  such  a  system  into 
operation.  As  applied  by  him  it  worked  with  per- 
fect satisfaction  to  the  railway  owners,  the  em- 
ployees, and  the  public. 

The  railway  laws  upon  which  this  system  was 
based  are  masterpieces.  They  were  drawn  up  by 
Wood  after  careful  consultation  with  the  greatest 
living  authorities  on  railway  administration,  such 
as  William  van  Horn,  president  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific,  and  Grenville  Dodge,  the  builder  of  the 
Union  Pacific,  who  came  to  Cuba  to  advise  with 

[151] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

the  governor.  With  slight  modifications  these 
laws  are  still  in  successful  operation.  It  is 
greatly  to  be  regretted  that  they  are  too  volumi- 
nous to  be  included  in  this  book, — they  comprise 
130  pages  of  fine  type  and  are  so  concise  that 
they  can  not  well  be  abridged;  therefore  limited 
space  forbids  their  insertion. 

•  •••••• 

The  work  of  the  Department  of  Public  Works 
included  every  variety  of  engineering.  Seiior 
Villalon,  its  Secretary,  directed  the  improvement 
of  many  of  Cuba's  harbors,  in  almost  every  one 
of  which  there  was  some  bank  or  reef  which 
needed  to  be  removed,  the  actual  work  being  car- 
ried on  by  General  Harry  L.  Hodges  and  Colonel 
Borden  of  the  U.  S.  Engineers.  In  Cardenas, 
Cienfuegos,  Matanzas,  and  Caibarien  extensive 
dredging  and  pier  construction  were  required  in 
order  that  freight  and  merchandise  need  not  be 
lightered  to  and  from  ships  of  deep  draft,  thus 
laying  a  heavy  additional  burden  upon  the  ex- 
porter and  importer.  At  Caibarien  the  distance 
of  lighterage  was  about  eighteen  miles. 

The  bar  at  Cardenas  was  reduced  at  a  cost  of 
$400,000.  At  Matanzas  a  government  wharf 
costing  $300,000  was  built  in  accordance  with  the 
plans  of  an  American  army  engineer.  The 
sunken  battleship  Maine  was  removed  from  the 
roadstead  of  Habana.  New  government  wharves 
were  built  at  Santiago,  Guantanamo  and  Gibara. 

In  Guantanamo  an  aqueduct,  nine  and  one-half 

[152] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

miles  long,  was  constructed,  capable  of  supplying 
45,000  people.  The  water  was  taken  from  a  point 
well  above  all  possible  sources  of  contamination 
and  was  of  excellent  quality.  The  construction 
of  this  aqueduct  very  greatly  improved  the  sani- 
tary conditions  existing  in  Guantanamo,  nearly 
abolished  typhoid,  and  tended  to  build  up  the 
town  and  increase  the  population. 

There  were  in  Cuba  no  public  roads,  with  the 
exception  of  the  public  highways  in  the  Province 
of  Habana,  a  few  in  Matanzas  and  Pinar  del  Rio, 
and  some  very  indifferent  ones  in  Santa  Clara. 
The  Island  of  Cuba  was  without  a  public  road 
system  and  lacked  means  of  thorough  inland  com- 
munication other  than  the  roughest  country 
roads,  difficult  to  pass  in  the  dry  season,  except 
for  pack  animals,  and  absolutely  impassable  in 
the  rainy  season. 

The  Province  of  Santiago  already  had  a  start 
in  the  right  direction,  for  much  systematic  work 
had  been  done  by  Wood  round  about  Santiago 
when  he  was  governor  of  that  city.  He  had  con- 
structed many  miles  of  first-class  roads  and  had 
opened  up  country  highways  and  made  them  pass- 
able at  least  for  freight  carts  and  wagons  in  dry 
weather. 

•  •••••  • 

Doctor  Miguel  Gener  continued  in  office  as  Sec- 
retary of  Justice  until  the  first  of  May,  1901, 
when  he  tendered  his  resignation,  having  been 
elected  Mayor  of  Habana.    He  was  succeeded  by 

[153] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Senor  Jose  Varela  Jado,  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  Island,  who  was  appointed  by  Gov- 
ernor Wood  upon  the  unanimous  recommenda- 
tion of  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  Governor  fully  appreciated  the  importance 
and  value  of  the  work  of  this  department  and 
gave  it  an  unusual  amount  of  personal  super- 
vision. 

Before  he  went  to  Cuba  he  held  long  con- 
ferences with  U.  S.  Chief  Justice  White,  who 
was  a  profound  student  of  Spanish  law,  who  de- 
clared that  while  the  substantive  bddy  of  Span- 
ish law  was  sound,  the  procedure  by  which  it 
was  administered  needed  reform.  The  reforms 
needed  were  to  facilitate  the  trial  of  persons  ar- 
rested, to  see  that  they  were  duly  informed  of  the 
charges  against  them,  and  that  they  were  sup- 
plied with  competent  counsel.  Leonard  Wood 
never  lost  sight  of  this  opinion,  and  made  it  the 
basis  of  the  judiciary  system  which  he  established 
for  Cuba. 

It  can  safely  be  asserted  that  no  Department 
was  more  in  need  of  thorough  and  radical  reform, 
rigid  inspection,  and  constant  supervision  than 
this  Department  of  Justice,  which  was  lacking  in 
efficiency,  energy,  and  attention  to  duty.  In  its 
subordinate  branches  it  was  justly  charged  with 
partiality  and  lack  of  honesty  and  the  courts  were 
commonly  said  to  be  corrupt. 

The  long  and  unnecessary  detention  of  pris- 
oners awaiting  trial  seemed  to  be  a  matter  of  lit- 

[154] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

tie  concern  to  the  judges,  who  occupied  them- 
selves in  a  leisurely  manner  for  a  few  hours  each 
day  in  a  feeble  attempt  to  dispose  of  an  infinitesi- 
mal proportion  of  the  enormous  volume  of  busi- 
ness awaiting  their  attention.  The  people  natu- 
rally had  little  confidence  in  such  tardy  justice. 

The  judiciary  and  legal  body  had  surrounded 
itself  with  an  intricate  network  of  tradition  and 
conservatism  and  had  adopted  a  procedure  so 
cumbersome  and  slow  as  to  render  impossible  any 
prompt  administration  of  justice.  There  seemed 
to  be  an  unlimited  number  of  ways  of  getting  a 
man  into  prison  and  tangling  up  his  affairs,  but 
unless  he  were  rich  and  influential  it  was  difficult 
for  him  to  find  his  way  out  again. 

Under  the  old  Spanish  criminal  law  the  ac- 
cused had  been  held  incommunicado, — isolated 
from  his  friends.  He  did  not  have  the  right  to 
face  his  accuser,  was  forced  to  testify  against 
himself,  and  was  denied  the  right  of  habeas 
corpus. 

The  conditions  growing  out  of  the  old  methods 
of  procedure  were  shocking  and  indicated  an  ab- 
solute disregard  for  personal  liberty  or  any  rea- 
sonable consideration  of  the  rights  of  those  ac- 
cused. Whether  a  case  against  a  prisoner  was 
disposed  of  in  a  day  or  a  year  had  long  been 
deemed  a  matter  of  trivial  importance  and  one 
counted  in  no  way  worthy  of  serious  considera- 
tion or  special  effort.  The  administration  of  jus- 
tice slept,  and  the  rights  of  the  people  to  be  tried 

[155] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

promptly  did  not  enter  into  the  consideration  of 
those  in  power. 

Governor  Wood  found  it  necessary  to  establish 
a  special  Board  of  Pardons  charged  with  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  status  of  all  prisoners  through- 
out the  Island.  Five  hundred  and  twenty  indi- 
viduals were  released  on  the  unanimous  rec- 
ommendations of  this  Board,  many  of  them 
on  the  ground  that  they  had  been  confined  await- 
ing trial  for  a  longer  period  than  they  would  have 
served  had  they  been  found  guilty. 

At  first  it  was  difficult  to  get  any  person 
in  Cuba  to  sign  his  or  her  name  to  a  com- 
plaint against  an  official  or  any  person  of  im- 
portance. To  such  an  extent  did  this  condition 
prevail  that  even  brigands  and  outlaws  arrested 
almost  red-handed  could  not  be  convicted,  for  lack 
of  witnesses,  although  the  people  were  fully 
cognizant  of  the  facts  and  confidentially  re- 
ported them  to  the  judges.  It  was  necessary  to 
find  some  point  of  departure,  and  therefore  upon 
the  receipt  of  a  sufficient  amount  of  reliable, 
trustworthy  evidence,  even  if  confidentially  given, 
sentences  were  frequently  imposed.  Once  offend- 
ers had  commenced  to  be  thus  summarily  dealt 
with,  general  confidence  in  the  judicial  decisions 
began  to  be  established.  After  two  years  a  point 
was  reached  where  the  people  were  willing  to 
make  formal  and  duly  signed  complaints  against 
those  who  broke  the  law,  even  when  they  were  in 
positions  of  authority  and  influence,  or  were  dan-r 

[156] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

gerous  members  of  the  criminal  classes.  Every 
legitimate  and  proper  method  was  employed  to 
foster  this  confidence,  for  until  this  was  devel- 
oped and  fully  established,  it  was  impossible  to 
maintain  an  efficient  and  democratic  administra- 
tion of  justice. 

Leonard  Wood  made  the  people  thoroughly 
understand  their  individual  rights.  He  impressed 
upon  the  official  classes  that  their  offices  were 
offices  of  public  trust  and  not  of  personal  gain. 
Thus  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  secure  and 
stable  government  in  the  Island. 

Correctional  courts  were  established  in  all  of 
the  larger  cities  of  Cuba.  The  procedure  was 
oral  and  summary,  and  the  judge  had  jurisdiction 
to  impose  a  fine  of  $30.00  or  thirty  days'  im- 
prisonment or  both.  If  in  his  opinion  the  offense 
was  one  which  demanded  a  more  severe  punish- 
ment, the  law  provided  for  the  impaneling  of  a 
jury  of  five  members  in  a  manner  very  similar  to 
that  employed  in  the  courts  of  the  United  States. 
If  this  jury  found  the  accused  guilty,  a  sentence 
of  one  hundred  and  eighty  days'  imprisonment 
and  a  fine  not  to  exceed  $500.00  could  be  im- 
posed. 

The  value  of  the  correctional  courts  was  soon 
clearly  demonstrated  and  their  good  results  gen- 
erally appreciated.  Much  of  the  work  formerly 
thrown  upon  the  audiencias  was  now  disposed 
of  by  these  courts,  to  the  great  relief  of  the  au- 

[iS7] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

diencias  and  to  the  benefit  of  persons  held  for 
trial. 

Before  Wood  left  Cuba,  the  courts,  almost 
without  exception,  were  discharging  the  duties 
imposed  upon  them  with  promptness  and  energy 
and  had  won  the  confidence  of  the  public.  Com- 
plaints against  them  had  practically  ceased;  jus- 
tice was  administered  more  promptly,  both  in  civil 
and  criminal  cases,  than  in  the  courts  of  the 
United  States.  The  average  time  for  serious  civil 
and  criminal  cases,  from  the  date  of  arrest  to  final 
action  in  the  case,  was  three  months.  Rich  and 
poor  received  equal  treatment  and  consideration. 
The  judges  were  efficient,  discharging  their  du- 
ties in  a  fearless  manner. 

In  addition  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  entire 
judicial  fabric  of  the  Cuban  courts,  many  knotty 
problems  of  law  had  to  be  faced  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Justice;  for  instance,  there  had  been 
strong  antagonism  between  Spaniards  and 
Cubans,  and  all  sorts  of  private  revenge  had 
been  plotted  by  both  parties  through  the  in- 
strumentality of  the  corrupt  conditions  and  the 
cases  had  become  warped  before  Governor  Wood 
had  had  time  to  straighten  out  the  courts.  He 
deemed  it  advisable  to  start  anew  with  a  clean 
slate  and  therefore  quashed  charges  against  per- 
sons alleged  to  have  committed  crimes  while  on 
active  service  prior  to  the  declaration  of  peace. 

Prior  to  Wood's  arrival  an  excellent  supreme 
court,  to  replace  that  of  Spain,  had  been  formed 

[158] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

by  the  appointment  of  able  Cuban  lawyers  se- 
lected from  various  parts  of  the  Island. 

A  less  fortunate  step  had  been  the  issu- 
ance as  early  as  1899  of  an  order  making  civil 
marriages  the  only  legal  ones.  This  had  been 
done  with  the  double  purpose  of  curtailing  the 
power  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  of  regu- 
lating vital  records.  The  issue  at  stake,  however, 
was  an  exceedingly  complicated  one;  for  while 
the  new  law  recognized  that  marriage,  as  far  as 
its  validity  in  law  was  concerned,  was  a  civil 
contract,  to  which  the  consent  of  the  parties  ca- 
pable of  making  a  legal  contract  was  essential, 
it  failed  sufficiently  to  take  into  consideration  its 
religious  significance.  The  original  order  was 
therefore  modified  by  Governor  Wood  so  that 
marriages  might  be  either  civil  or  religious  at  the 
option  of  the  contracting  parties,  providing,  how- 
ever, that  in  a  religious  marriage  solemnized  by 
a  clergyman  or  priest,  the  officiating  minister  was 
required  to  make  out  the  proper  civil  certificates. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  legalize  the  mar- 
riages which  during  the  war  had  been  contracted 
without  due  form.  In  certain  sections  of  the 
country  the  situation  existing  was  one  of  almost 
universal  common-law  marriage,  and  it  was  de- 
sired to  make  these  of  record  and  throw  about 
them  the  protection  and  sanction  of  the  law.  To 
this  end  the  legal  period  for  the  inscription  of 
marriages  was  repeatedly  extended  in  order  that 

[159] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

the  people  in  remote  country  districts  might  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity. 

Under  the  old  regime  the  ecclesiastical  courts 
had  had  exclusive  control  of  divorce  and  of  the 
nullification  of  marriages.  These  matters  were 
transferred  to  the  civil  courts. 

All  the  cemeteries  had  been  controlled  by  the 
church,  and  burial  was  entirely  dependent  upon 
its  regulations  and  imposts.  The  sanitary  and 
police  arrangements  of  burial  were  now  trans- 
ferred to  the  civil  authorities  and  in  addition  each 
municipality  established  a  civil  cemetery. 

Knotty  questions  involving  property  belonging 
to  the  religious  orders  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  were  brought  to  Governor  Wood  for  set- 
tlement. In  the  period  between  1837-41,  Spain 
had  secularized  a  great  portion  of  the  property 
belonging  to  the  various  religious  orders.  At  the 
time  of  the  secularization  Spain  directed  her 
Governors-General  on  seizing  this  property  to 
seize  also  all  titles  thereto.  This  act  of  the 
Spanish  government  led  to  a  protracted  con- 
troversy between  Spain  and  the  Holy  See,  the 
final  outcome  of  which  was  embodied  in  the  Con- 
cordat, published  in  1 861,  in  which  it  was  agreed 
that  the  properties  which  had  been  sold  should 
be  dropped  from  consideration;  that  where  pos- 
sible other  properties  should  be  returned  to  the 
Church ;  that  those  which  had  been  put  to  secular 
uses  and  were  needed  by  the  government  should 
be  retained,  but  that  the  government  should  pay 

[160] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

a  rental  therefor  which  amounted  practically  to 
an  allowance  for  the  maintenance  of  worship. 
These  moneys  had  been  regularly  paid  by  the 
State  to  the  Church  from  the  time  of  the  Con- 
cordat to  the  date  of  the  American  occupation 
and  in  round  numbers  amounted  to  an  approxi- 
mate total  of  twenty-one  million  dollars. 

From  the  date  of  the  American  intervention 
payments  to  the  Church  for  the  use  of  these  prop- 
erties had  ceased,  although  the  property  con- 
tinued to  be  in  the  possession  and  use  of  the  gov- 
ernment. The  claim  of  the  Church  was  con- 
cretely: "Either  give  us  back  our  property,  or 
pay  rent  for  the  use  of  it." 

The  properties  consisted  of  real  property,  such 
as  lands  and  buildings,  of  mortgages,  and  of 
Capellanias,  a  type  of  religious  mortgage  placed 
upon  property  to  pay  for  masses  and  religious 
observances  for  the  dead.  The  latter  were  usually 
in  perpetuity.  In  certain  sections  of  the  Island 
properties  were  literally  covered  with  Capellanias. 

After  considerable  discussion  and  extended  in- 
vestigation, it  was  apparent  that  the  claims  of  the 
Church  were  in  the  main  just  and  reasonable,  and 
that  it  was  incumbent  upon  the  Military  Gov- 
ernment to  take  such  steps  as  were  necessary  to 
recognize  the  rights  of  the  Church. 

Governor  Wood  and  the  Bishop  of  Habana, 
representing  respectively  the  Government  of  In- 
tervention and  the  various  orders  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  came  to  an  agreement  as  to  the 

[161] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

real  property  which  consisted  principally  of  land 
and  large  public  buildings  in  the  city  of  Habana; 
the  value  thereof  was  appraised  by  expert  ap- 
praisers. The  nominal  value  of  the  mortgage  and 
Capellanias  appeared  on  their  face,  but  there 
was  considerable  difficulty  in  coming  to  a  basis  of 
agreement  as  to  their  real  value.  This,  however, 
was  finally  accomplished,  and  amounted  to  an  ac- 
ceptance by  the  Church  of  approximately  thirty- 
six  cents  on  the  dollar. 

This  agreement  was  embodied  in  a  formal  doc- 
ument, in  which  the  State  was  granted  an  option 
to  buy  the  real  property  at  the  value  agreed  upon, 
at  any  time  within  five  years  from  the  date  of  the 
agreement;  and  until  such  time  as  the  State 
should  buy,  it  was  agreed  that  it  should  pay  an 
annual  rental  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent,  on  the 
accepted  value.  The  mortgages  and  Capellan- 
ias were  bought  outright.  The  Church  was  also 
compensated  for  the  use  of  the  property  from 
the  date  of  American  intervention  to  the  date  of 
the  signing  of  the  agreement. 

Governor  Wood  said:  "I  consider  this  settle- 
ment of  the  question  of  Church  property  as  most 
important,  and  one  which  will  remove  from  the 
coming  Cuban  government  a  great  and  fruitful 
source  of  annoyance. 

"The  position  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  Cuba  during  the  American  occupation  has,  to 
a  certain  extent,  been  a  trying  one,  as  it  found 
itself  under  entirely  new  conditions  incident  to 

[162] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

the  severance  of  those  relations  which  had  for- 
merly existed  in  Cuba  between  the  Church  and 
State.  The  attitude  of  the  Church,  however,  has 
been  one  of  cooperation  with  the  Military  Gov- 
ernment in  the  work  it  has  had  to  perform  in 
Cuba,  and  the  existing  relations  have  always  been 
harmonious  and  friendly." 

Towards  the  end  of  Leonard  Wood's  gover- 
norship of  Cuba,  the  Bishop  of  Habana,  Mon- 
signeur  Donatus,  was  called  away  by  the  Pope 
to  become  Bishop  of  Ephesus.  His  gratitude  for 
the  fair-mindedness  of  the  Governor  was  ex- 
pressed in  the  following  letter,  written  at  the 
time  of  his  departure: 

"Honored  Sir: 

"Called  by  the  confidence  of  the  Holy  Father 
to  a  larger  and  more  difficult  field  of  action,  I  feel 
the  duty  before  leaving  Cuba  to  express  to  your 
Excellency  my  sentiment  of  friendship  and  grat- 
itude, not  only  for  the  kindness  shown  to  me, 
but  for  the  fair  treatment  of  the  questions  with 
the  Government  of  the  Island,  especially  the  Mar- 
riage and  Church  Property  questions.  The 
equity  and  justice  which  inspired  your  decisions 
will  devolve  before  all  fair-minded  people  to  the 
honor,  not  only  of  you  personally,  but  also  to  the 
Government  you  so  worthily  represent.  I  am 
gratified  to  tell  you  that  I  have  already  expressed 
the  same  sentiment  to  the  Holy  Father  in  writ- 

[163] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

ing  and  I  will  tell  him  orally  on  my  visit  to  Rome. 
"Yours  very  respectfully, 
"X  Donatus,  Bishop  of  Habana." 

The  last  years  of  the  Spanish  rule  in  Cuba  were 
characterized  by  an  absolute  neglect  of  every- 
thing connected  with  public  instruction.  Popular 
teaching  had  sunk  to  the  lowest  level.  There  was 
not  a  single  schoolhouse  in  the  Island.  Teachers, 
always  badly  paid,  lived  in  penury.  School  at- 
tendance had  become  insignificant,  so  that  the 
greater  portion  of  the  population  was  illiterate. 
Nothing  was  taught  in  the  institutes,  while  they 
were  the  scene  of  the  most  barefaced  traffic  in 
degrees  and  certificates  of  excellence.  In  some, 
certificates  were  subject  to  a  regular  tariff.  Stu- 
dents who  could  not  write  a  well  spelled  letter 
received  an  A.B.  degree. 

After  the  war  broke  out,  this  class  of  insti- 
tute located  at  Pinar  del  Rio,  Santa  Clara,  Puerte 
Principe,  and  Santiago  de  Cuba  were  entirely 
suspended.  The  University  of  Cuba  in  Habana 
alone  dragged  on  a  sickly  existence  without  in 
any  way  influencing  public  culture. 

The  Department  of  Public  Instruction  under 
General  Wood  therefore  faced  a  colossal  task. 
It  began  its  work  at  the  top,  with  the  university, 
where  in  1900  the  faculty  consisted  of  72  pro- 
fessors and  24  assistant  professors,  while  the. 
number  of  students  was  only  200. 

A  great  many  of  the  professors  were  entirely 

[164] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

unfitted  for  their  positions,  which  in  many  in- 
stances had  been  obtained  in  an  irregular  manner 
and  were  held  very  much  as  a  sinecure,  without 
any  feeling  of  responsibility  as  to  amount  of  qual- 
ity of  service  which  ought  to  be  rendered  in  re- 
turn for  the  salaries.  They  looked  upon  them- 
selves as  privileged  officeholders  and  were  mem- 
bers of  an  irresponsible  bureaucracy.  Some  even 
lived  in  Spain  yet  drew  their  salaries  with  due 
regularity.  Others  enjoyed  practically  limitless 
leaves  of  absence.  Still  others  were  venerable 
gentlemen  whose  days  of  activity  had  long  since 
passed. 

It  soon  became  apparent  to  Governor  Wood 
that  a  thorough  reorganization,  combined  with 
radical  changes  in  personnel,  would  be  necessary. 
No  one  disputed  the  fact  that  the  university  was 
thoroughly  inefficient,  but  no  one  was  willing  to 
put  his  hand  to  the  work  of  reformation,  until 
Secretary  Varona  was  persuaded  by  Leonard 
Wood  to  accept  the  portfolio  of  Secretary  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction.  He  brought  singular  courage  and 
devotion  to  his  task. 

Indifferent  to  the  storm  of  personal  abuse 
which  was  poured  upon  him,  and  regardless  of 
the  loss  of  personal  friends  or  the  creation  of 
numerous  enemies,  he  proceeded  to  mark  out  a 
straight  line  of  advancement  and  firmly  adhere 
to  it.  In  this  he  was  given  through  thick  and 
thin  the  Governor's  full  support.  The  result  was 
the  reexamination  of  the  great  majority  of  the 

[165] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

professors  in  the  university,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  institutes  of  secondary  instruction.  Conse- 
quently many  new  men  were  obtained  who 
brought  with  them  the  necessary  energy  and  am- 
bition to  make  the  university  one  in  fact  as  well 
as  in  name. 

Certain  qualifications  were  prescribed  for  stu- 
dents desiring  admission,  and  the  curriculum  was 
rearranged,  modernized  and  made  into  a  four- 
year  course  similar  to  the  courses  in  American 
universities. 

The  Department  of  Public  Instruction  next 
turned  its  attention  to  the  public  schools  which 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1899  were  in  a  deplorable 
state.  Under  Spanish  rule  the  school-teachers 
were  all  paid  by  the  government,  but  having  lit- 
tle or  no  political  influence  were  continually 
robbed  by  Spanish  officials  by  means  of  deduc- 
tions from  their  salaries  made  on  behalf  of  a 
fictitious  pension  fund. 

Senor  Varona  and  Governor  Wood  plunged 
into  the  work  by  which  public  schools  were  in- 
itiated or  reestablished. 

A  system  was  built  up  by  which  the  teachers, 
janitors,  and  owners  of  houses  were  all  required 
to  submit  proper  monthly  statements  as  to  sal- 
aries, rentals  and  other  expenses.  It  was  many 
months  before  the  agents  of  the  Finance  Depart- 
ment, charged  with  the  payment  of  these  salaries 
and  expenses,  ceased  to  find  innumerable  errors 
in  the  accounts ;  mail  facilities  in  many  localities 

[166] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

were  extremely  poor,  and  in  consequence  much 
confusion  resulted  in  the  early  months  of  the 
school  year  of  1899;  m  ^act  ft  was  not  until  the 
close  of  the  summer  vacation  that  the  innumer- 
able tangles  had  been  thoroughly  straightened  out. 

Books  and  other  supplies  had  to  be  distributed 
throughout  the  Island,  until  in  all  the  schools  was 
to  be  found  an  amount  of  school  material  suffi- 
cient to  meet  the  most  urgent  needs  of  the  situa- 
tion. The  text-books  were  carefully  selected, 
were  well  printed,  and  were  in  every  way  a  rev- 
elation not  only  to  the  school  children  but  to  their 
instructors. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1900  the  plan  of  send- 
ing a  certain  number  of  teachers  to  Harvard  was 
taken  up  and  actively  discussed.  The  idea  was 
first  brought  to  Wood's  attention  by  Mr.  Cam- 
eron Forbes,  of  Boston,  and  Mr.  Ernest  L.  Co- 
nant,  of  Habana.  He  at  once  assured  them  of 
his  hearty  endorsement  and  support.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  received  a  communication  from 
President  Eliot  of  Harvard,  asking  if  he  ap- 
proved the  plan,  to  which  he  gave  an  affirmative 
answer.  1 

The  War  Department,  through  the  Quarter- 
master-General, arranged  to  transport  all  the 
teachers  free  of  charge,  and  to  return  them  to 
Cuba  at  the  completion  of  their  course  of  study. 
The  work  of  caring  for  them  in  Cambridge  was 
conducted  with  the  greatest  attention  to  detail, 
and  was  in  charge  of  a  committee  of  young  men, 

[167] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  Clarence  C.  Mann. 

At  the  conclusion  of  their  university  work  the 
teachers  were  taken  on  a  trip  to  New  York,  Phil- 
adelphia, and  Washington,  before  finally  reem- 
barking  for  Cuba,  In  addition  to  the  technical 
information  acquired,  all  members  of  the  expedi- 
tion went  back  to  Cuba  with  new  and-  favorable 
ideas  concerning  the  United  States,  its  people  and 
their  sentiments  toward  the  Cubans. 

In  July,  1900,  a  new  school  law  was  published, 
the  old  one  having  been  found  defective  in  many 
essential  features.  This  law  was  framed  after 
the  school  law  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  worked 
with  entire  satisfaction,  giving  most  excellent 
results.  It  was  written  by  Lieut.  M.  E.  Hanna, 
one  of  Governor  Wood's  aides,  who  had  for  four 
years  been  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of 
Ohio. 

Firmly  believing  that  Cuba's  future  as  a  na- 
tion depended  more  upon  the  education  of  her 
children  than  upon  any  other  one  element,  Leon- 
ard Wood  devoted  especial  attention  to  upbuild- 
ing the  public  school  system.  In  1901,  out  of  a 
total  revenue  of  seventeen  million,  he  spent  four 
million  dollars  on  public  education  alone,  three- 
and-a-half  million  being  devoted  to  Public 
Schools. 

Before  he  left  Cuba  in  1903  there  were  in  the 
Island  some  4,000  efficient  public  schools  with 
a    total    enrollment    of    254,000    pupils,    which 

[168] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

amounted  to  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  the  total  popu- 
lation between  the  ages  of  six  and  fifteen. 

The  Department  of  Finance  was  charged  with 
the  care  and  safe-keeping  of  public  buildings  and 
public  properties,  the  collection  of  State  taxes, 
the  preparation  of  tax  laws,  the  supervision  of 
municipal  taxation,  and  the  collection  of  internal 
revenue.  Under  Spanish  administration  it  had 
also  had  direct  control  of  the  treasury,  but  Gov- 
ernor Wood  maintained  this  as  a  distinct  depart- 
ment, with  one  of  his  aides  as  treasurer. 

Enrique  Jose  de  Varona  was  Secretary  of  Fi- 
nance until  the  ist  of  May,  1900,  at  which  time 
he  was  appointed  Secretary  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, and  Senor  Leopold  Cancio,  former  Assist- 
ant Secretary,  was  made  Secretary. 

The  office  of  the  Secretary  of  Finance  con- 
tained records  of  all  public  properties,  and  to  it 
were  submitted  all  appeals  against  tax  ordinances 
and  decisions.  It  was  likewise  charged  with  the 
disbursement  of  all  funds  expended  for  the  pay- 
ment of  salaries  in  the  various  other  departments 
of  the  government. 

On  January  22,  1900,  the  following  order  was 
issued: 

"No.  34, 

Headquarters  Division  of  Cuba, 

Havana,  January  22,  1900. 
"The  military  governor  of  Cuba  directs  the  publica- 
tion of  the  following: 

[169] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

"The  herein-named  persons  are  hereby  designated  as 
members  of  a  commission  to  consider  the  general  sub- 
ject of  taxation  in  all  its  aspects  in  the  Island  of 
Cuba;  to  wit:  Enrique  Jose  de  Varona,  Pablo  Des- 
yerine,  Leopoldo  Cancio. 

"The  commission  is  requested  to  meet  in  the  office  of 
the  military  governor  on  Wednesday,  January  24, 
1900,  at  3  P.  M.  for  organization." 

The  purpose  of  this  commission  was  to  con- 
sider the  general  subject  of  taxation  in  all  its 
aspects.  It  was  hoped  the  commission  would  rec- 
ommend the  abolishment  of  the  tax  on  incomes 
and  adopt  one  on  values.  This,  however,  was  not 
done,  and  Governor  Wood  respected  the  decision 
since  it  represented  the  well-nigh  unanimous 
views  of  the  Cuban  citizens,  and  because  there 
had  necessarily  been  so  many  radical  alterations 
in  the  methods  of  administration  and  govern- 
ment, and  so  many  of  the  new  officials  were  en- 
tirely without  experience,  that  each  and  every 
serious  new  change  meant  a  certain  amount  of 
confusion  and  delay  in  the  conduct  of  public  busi- 
ness. 

Leonard  Wood's  general  policy  was  as  far  as 
possible  to  relieve  the  agricultural  classes  from 
taxation  in  order  that  their  resources  might  be 
applied  to  the  reestablishment  and  reequipment 
of  their  estates,  most  of  which  have  been  seri- 
ously injured  or  totally  destroyed  by  the  war. 

In  spite  of  this  handicap,  however,  rural  Cuba 
[170] 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

was  built  up  and  her  properties  put  in  production 
with  a  celerity  never  before  exceeded.  In  two 
and  a  half  years,  the  Island  was  brought  from 
the  wretched  state  of  poverty  and  starvation 
to  a  condition  in  which  suffering  disappeared,  and 
beggars  were  almost  unknown.  The  marks  of 
war  were  removed,  towns  were  rebuilt  and  large 
crops  of  sugar-cane  and  tobacco  were  in  the  fields. 
With  her  own  revenues  Cuba  maintained  4,000 
schools,  an  excellent  and  extensive  system  of 
charities  and  hospitals,  adequate  public  works, 
a  splendid  system  of  sanitation,  and  had  recon- 
structed her  public  buildings.  She  had  even  reim- 
bursed the  United  States  for  funds  which  had 
been  expended  upon  quarters  for  American 
troops  and  for  American  sanitary  work  in  Ha- 
bana.  With  all  these  expenses  she  had  a  reserve 
of  over  one  million  dollars  in  her  treasury. 

Throughout  his  administration  Wood's  fair- 
ness and  broad-mindedness  won  the  cooperation 
of  the  Cubans.  Whenever  opposition  was  stirred 
up  it  quickly  yielded  to  his  frank  explanations  of 
the  reasons  for  his  action,  which  he  was  always 
willing  to  give.  His  frequent  visits  to  all  parts 
of  the  Island  and  his  personal  inspection  of  local 
conditions  did  much  to  preserve  harmony  and  to 
create  ever-increasing  confidence  and  good  will. 
Although  his  government  was  called  "military" 
it  was  so  in  name  only;  the  Cuba  courts  from 
first  to  last  exercised  full  and  untrammeled  juris- 
diction. 

[171] 


LEONxVRD  WOOD 

Four  years  after  Leonard  Wood  landed  on  the 
pestilential  semi-savage  Island  of  Cuba,  he  de- 
parted again,  leaving  it  a  successful  self-govern- 
ing republic,  with  a  constitution  modeled  after 
that  of  the  United  States,  with  healthful  cities, 
with  public  schools  in  every  part  of  the  Island 
and  an  upright,  intelligent  judiciary.  More- 
over, the  new  republic  was  free  from  debt,  an 
extraordinary  tribute  not  only  to  Wood's  own  in- 
tegrity but  also  to  his  ability  to  exact  integrity 
from  the  Latin- Americans  and  from  his  Ameri- 
can associates. 

In  four  short  years  the  almost  unbelievable 
miracle  of  transforming  a  people  from  the  plane 
of  medieval  barbarism  to  one  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion had  been  accomplished  by  this  greatest  of 
living  administrators.  So  economically  had  he 
managed  that  he  paid  the  expenses  of  govern- 
ment out  of  the  ordinary  revenues  as  already  es- 
tablished, which  amounted  to  not  more  than  sixty 
million  dollars  during  the  entire  four  years,  and 
at  the  end  had  a  balance  in  the  banks,  so  that  his 
administration  cost  the  United  States  absolutely 
nothing. 

To-day,  fifteen  years  later,  the  Republic  of 
Cuba  still  continues  to  function  efficiently,  a  proof 
that  Leonard  Wood  knows  how  to  build  for  per- 
manency. It  is  the  only  Latin- American  repub- 
lican government  which  has  ever  endured  for 
more  than  three  or  four  years.  .  .  .  "One  can 


GOVERNOR  OF  CUBA 

not  stay  long  in  Cuba,"  wrote  Ray  Stannard 
Baker  in  1900,  "without  being  convinced  that  it 
was  not  so  much  what  General  Wood  did  as  what 
he  was.  He  stood  for  Americanism.  For  years 
the  Cubans  had  been  looking  to  the  great  nation 
of  the  North  for  succor  in  their  struggle.  They 
had  at  last  been  rescued  and  the  Spaniards  had 
been  driven  from  the  Island.  Their  ideal  of  the 
bravery,  the  honesty,  the  power,  the  wisdom  of 
the  American  was  high.  He  must  be  everything 
that  the  Spanish  oppressor  was  not.  And  here 
they  had  General  Wood,  the  American.  He  was 
calm,  firm,  simple,  accessible  to  poor  as  well  as 
to  rich.  He  was  direct  and  absolutely  truthful 
in  what  he  said.  He  had  none  of  the  airs  of  the 
Spanish  governors,  this  sturdy  man  in  a  khaki 
suit,  who  went  everywhere,  saw  everything,  and 
could  neither  be  flattered,  nor  cajoled,  nor  de- 
ceived ;  a  man  who  quelled  riots  with  his  riding- 
whip  instead  of  with  rifle  volleys.  That  was  the 
American  they  knew. 

"It  is  Wood  the  man  and  the  American  whom 
they  love  and  respect;  and  it  is  Wood  who  has 
won  their  confidence  more  fully,  perhaps,  than 
any  other  American." 

Wood's  success  in  Cuban  administration  was 
commented  upon  by  Roosevelt  as  follows: 
"Credit  to  him.  Yes,  in  a  way.  In  another  way 
no  particular  credit,  because  he  was  built  so  that 
he  could  do  nothing  else." 

[173] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Secretary  of  War  Root  said  of  Wood's  Cuban 
administration — "Out  of  a  prostrate  Colony,  a 
free  Republic  was  built  up,  the  work  being  done 
with  such  signal  ability,  integrity,  and  success 
that  the  new  nation  started  under  more  favorable 
conditions  than  has  ever  before  been  the  case  in 
any  single  instance  among  contemporaneous 
Spanish-American  republics.  This  record  stands 
alone  in  history,  and  the  benefit  conferred  there- 
by on  the  people  of  Cuba  was  no  greater  than  the 
honor  conferred  thereby  on  the  people  of  the 
United  States." 


[174] 


CHAPTER  X 

TURNING  THE  GOVERNMENT  OVER  TO  CUBANS 

A  problem  which  is  of  especial  interest  at  the 
present  time,  when  constitutional  matters  are  of 
paramount  public  importance,  is  the  far-sighted 
policy  pursued  by  Leonard  Wood,  from  1900  to 
1903,  in  arranging  for  the  adoption  of  a  sound 
national  constitution  for  Cuba,  so  that  he  might 
eventually  turn  over  the  Island  to  the  exclusive 
control  of  the  Cubans.  His  efforts  along  this  line 
began  almost  as  soon  as  he  assumed  the  Governor- 
ship. 

Before  six  months  had  passed  he  had  so  far 
overcome  the  acute  problems  of  local  diseases 
and  disorder,  and  had  so  systematized  the  vast 
bulk  of  administrative  and  developmental  work, 
that  he  was  able  to  give  time  and  energy  to  a 
consideration  of  the  future  problem  of  turning 
over  to  the  Cubans  the  governing  of  their  Island. 

He  foresaw  that  the  most  vital  step  would  be 
the  election  of  delegates  to  a  convention  to  draft 
a  national  constitution.  Such  a  convention  could 
not  immediately  be  chosen,  for  the  Cubans  had 
never  participated  in  an  election  of  any  sort;  and 
he  realized  that  some  preliminary  training  would 
be  necessary. 

[175] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Therefore,  Governor  Wood  wisely  decided  to 
let  them  cut  their  political  eye-teeth  on  a  less 
important  general  election.  The  first  of  these 
was  held  on  June  16th,  1900,  six  months  after 
he  became  governor;  its  purpose  was  the  elec- 
tion of  township  officers  to  replace  those  who  at 
first  had  been  arbitrarily  appointed  by  himself. 

This  preliminary  election  was  held  in  accord- 
ance with  an  exceedingly  interesting  new  election 
law,  which  lack  of  space  forbids  giving  in  full, 
but  which  resulted  indirectly  from  the  following 
order : 

"Headquarters  Division  of  Cuba, 
"Habana,  February  16,  1900. 

"The  military  governor  of  Cuba  directs  the  publica- 
tion of  the  following: 

"The  herein-named  persons  are  designated  as  a  com- 
mission to  draw  up  rules  and  regulations  to  govern 
municipal  elections:  Diego  Tamayo  y  Tejeda,  Louis 
Estevez  y  Romero,  Juan  Bautista  Hernandez  y  Bar- 
reiro,  Enrique  Jose  Varona,  Juan  Rius  Rivers,  Man- 
uel Sanguily,  Fidel  Pierra,  Jose  Maria  Galvez,  Rafael 
Montoro,  Antonio  Govin,  Jose  Garcia  Montes,  Euse- 
bio  Hernandez,  Martin  Morua  Delgado. 

"The  commission  will  meet  at  104  Prado  as  soon  as 
practicable.  The  services  of  the  commission,  being 
voluntary,  are  without  salary/ 

The  personnel  of  the  commission,  designated 
in  the  order,  had  been  selected  by  the  Governor 
with  a  view  to  represent  fairly  all  the  different  Cu- 

[176] 


TURNING  GOVERNMENT  OVER  TO  CUBANS 

ban  political  groups  and  parties.  After  a 
long  and  heated  session,  two  plans  were  submit- 
ted to  Governor  Wood,  one  drawn  up  by  the  ma- 
jority, the  other  by  a  minority  of  the  commission. 
After  due  consideration  the  recommendation  of 
the  minority  was  accepted. 

The  elections  were  held  on  the  16th  day  of  June 
and  with  the  influence  of  the  new  Cuban  Rural 
Guard  were  carried  on  throughout  the  Island 
without  disturbance  or  disorder^ 

They  resulted  in  an  overwhelming  victory  for 
the  most  radical  and  extreme  political  elements, 
and  in  the  defeat  of  the  safer  conservatives. 

This  was  what  Governor  Wood  had  antici- 
pated. He  permitted  it  to  occur  because  ihe 
knew  it  to  be  a  necessary  first  step  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  people  for  self-government,  and  that 
in  no  other  way  could  they  learn  the  dangers  of 
allowing  themselves  to  be  led  astray  by  the  glit- 
tering and  impossible  promises  of  political  ex- 
tremists, who  would  perhaps  to-day  be  called  Bol- 
shevists. 

Nevertheless  with  the  assumption  of  office  by 
the  newly  elected  township  officers  began  a  pe- 
riod of  great  difficulty  for  his  government.  The 
men  elected  found  themselves  entirely  unfamiliar 
with  sound  economic  principles,  with  existing 
methods  of  taxation,  with  municipal  law,  and 
with  accounting  and  auditing. 

In  many  cases,  they  were  at  the  very  outset  con- 
fronted with  serious  contentions,  since  in  their 

[177] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

eagerness  to  be  elected  they  had  made  the  wildest 
promises  to  their  followers, — promises  they  could 
not  even  begin  to  fulfil.  As  a  result,  their  popular- 
ity collapsed  like  a  pricked  balloon,  and  gave  way 
to  complaints  and  fault-finding.  They  made  vain 
efforts  to  appease  their  erstwhile  adherents  by  ap- 
pointing them  to  minor  offices  and  clerkships,  thus 
unduly  expanding  the  payrolls  and  laying  up  even 
more  serious  troubles  for  the  future. 

The  natural  result  was  that  they  rapidly  lost 
the  confidence  of  the  business  and  industrial  ele- 
ments over  which  they  had  been  called  to  pre- 
side. To  avoid  serious  confusion  the  Governor 
found  it  necessary  to  keep  numerous  fiscal  inspec- 
tors constantly  at  work  in  the  provinces,  protect- 
ing the  interests  of  the  Departments  of  State  and 
Finance,  and  straightening  out  and  correcting  the 
abuses  which  arose — as  often  from  ignorance  as 
from  deliberate  wrongdoing. 

The  Secretary  of  Finance  found  that  only  a 
comparatively  small  portion  of  the  municipalities 
were  keeping  their  accounts  as  they  should  be 
kept.  By  constant  exercise  of  the  supervision 
above  referred  to,  the  township  administrations 
were,  however,  secured  against  serious  losses  or 
confusion,  but  the  indications  were  very  clear 
that,  without  this  supervision  and  watchfulness, 
very  serious  confusion  would  have  arisen;  con- 
fusion which  would  have  jeopardized  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  minor  irregularities  due  to  ignorance  or 

[178] 


TURNING  GOVERNMENT  OVER  TO  CUBANS 

incapacity  were  legion  in  number,  and  in  addi- 
tion there  were  more  serious  offenses  which 
made  it  necessary  for  the  Central  Government 
to  suspend  some  alcaldes  (mayors),  to  remove 
others  and  to  indict  still  others. 

By  the  end  of  1900  it  had  become  unpleasantly 
apparent  to  the  Cubans  that  in  future  they  would 
need  to  exert  far  greater  care  and  perspicacity 
in  the  election  of  officials.  They  became  fully 
alive  to  their  mistakes  in  the  first  election  and 
anxious  to  correct  them  at  the  next  one. 

Thus  the  education  of  the  Cuban  people  in  the 
problems  and  difficulties  of  self-government  was 
wisely  begun  several  years  before  they  were  actu- 
ally called  upon  to  rule  themselves  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  of  democracy. 

Confident  that  the  bad  results  of  electing  radi- 
cal demagogues  or  impractical  theorists  had  been 
somewhat  borne  home  to  the  people  by  their  un- 
pleasant experience  following  the  first  election, 
Governor  Wood  proceeded  towards  his  second 
general  election,  this  time  looking  towards  a 
constitutional  convention. 

He  first  visited  the  United  States  to  confer 
with  the  President,  with  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  with  the  Chief  Justice.  As  a  result  the 
following  order  was  published  after  his  return: 

"Headquarters  Division  of  Cuba, 

"Habana,  July  25,  1900. 
"The  military  governor  of  Cuba  directs  the  publi- 
cation of  the  following  instructions: 

[179] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

"Whereas,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  by  its 
joint  resolution  of  April  20,  1898,  declared — 

"That  the  people  of  the  island  of  Cuba  are,  and  of 
right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent ; 

"That  the  United  States  hereby  disclaims  any  dis- 
position or  intention  to  exercise  sovereignty,  jurisdic- 
tion, or  control  over  said  Island  except  for  the  pacifi- 
cation thereof,  and  asserts  its  determination  when  that 
is  accomplished  to  leave  the  government  and  control 
of  the  Island  to  its  people. 

"And  whereas,  the  people  of  Cuba  have  established 
municipal  governments,  deriving  their  authority  from 
the  suffrages  of  the  people  given  under  just  and  equal 
laws,  and  are  now  ready,  in  like  manner,  to  proceed 
to  the  establishment  of  a  general  government  which 
shall  assume  and  exercise  sovereignty,  jurisdiction, 
and  control  over  the  island: 

"Therefore  it  is  ordered  that  a  general  election  be 
held  in  the  Island  of  Cuba  on  the  third  Saturday  of 
September,  in  the  year  1900,  to  elect  delegates  10  a 
convention  to  meet  in  the  city  of  Habana,  at  12 
o'clock  noon  on  the  first  Monday  of  November,  in  the 
year  1900,  to  frame  and  adopt  a  constitution  for  the 
people  of  Cuba,  and,  as  a  part  thereof,  to  provide  for 
and  agree  with  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
upon  the  relations  to  exist  between  that  Government 
and  the  Government  of  Cuba,  and  to  provide  for  elec- 
tion by  the  people  of  officers  under  such  constitution, 
and  the  transfer  of  government  to  the  officers  so 
elected. 

"The  election  will  be  held  in  the  several  voting  pre- 
cincts of  the  Island  under  and  pursuant  to  the  provi- 

[180] 


TURNING  GOVERNMENT  OVER  TO  CUBxVNS 

sions  of  the  electoral  law  of  April  18,  1900,  and  the 
amendments  thereof. 

"The  people  of  the  several  provinces  will  elect  dele- 
gates in  number  proportioned  to  their  population  as 
determined  by  the  census,  viz. : 

"The  people  of  the  province  of  Pinar  del  Rio  will 
elect  eight  delegates. 

"The  people  of  the  province  of  Habana  will  elect 
three  delegates. 

"The  people  of  the  province  of  Matanzas  will  elect 
four  delegates. 

"The  people  of  the  province  of  Santa  Clara  will  elect 
seven  delegates. 

"The  people  of  the  province  of  Puerto  Principe  will 
elect  two  delegates. 

"The  people  of  the  province  of  Santiago  de  Cuba 
will  elect  seven  delegates." 

During  the  month  preceding  the  election,  Wood 
visited  the  principal  cities  of  the  Island,  held  nu- 
merous conferences  with  the  most  prominent  and 
influential  members  of  all  parties,  and  exerted 
every  effort  to  induce  them  to  drop  for  the  mo- 
ment all  political  differences  and  select  their 
ablest  leaders,  irrespective  of  party,  for  the  very 
important  duty  of  framing  a  new  constitution. 

The  convention  met  in  Habana,  November  5, 
1900,  at  the  Marti  Theater,  which  had  been  pre- 
pared for  their  occupancy.  The  occasion  was 
one  of  great  public  interest,  and  the  city  was 
crowded  with  visitors  from  all  sections  of  the 
Island.    Upon  the  assembling  of  the  Convention 

[181] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

the  following  proclamation  was  read  by  Governor 
Wood,  who  then  withdrew  and  did  not  there- 
after visit  the  Convention: 

"Gentlemen  : 

"As  Military  Governor  of  the  Island,  representing 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  I  call  this  conven- 
tion to  order. 

"It  will  be  your  duty,  first,  to  frame  and  adopt  a 
Constitution  for  Cuba,  and  when  that  has  been  done, 
to  formulate  what,  in  your  opinion,  ought  to  be  the 
relations  between  Cuba  and  the  United  States. 

"The  Constitution  must  be  adequate  to  secure  a 
stable,  orderly  and  free  government. 

"When  you  have  formulated  the  relations  which,  in 
your  opinion,  ought  to  exist  between  Cuba  and  the 
United  States,  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
will  doubtless  take  such  action  on  its  part  as  shall  lead 
to  a  final  and  authoritative  agreement  between  the  peo- 
ple of  the  two  countries  to  the  promotion  of  their 
common  interests. 

"All  friends  of  Cuba  will  follow  your  deliberations 
with  the  deepest  interest,  earnestly  desiring  that  you 
shall  reach  just  conclusions,  and  that  by  the  dignity, 
individual  self-restraint  and  wise  conservatism  which 
shall  characterize  your  proceedings,  the  capacity  of  the 
Cuban  people  for  representative  government  may  be 
signally  illustrated. 

"The  fundamental  distinction  between  true  repre- 
sentative government  and  dictatorship  is  that  in  the 
former  every  representative  of  the  people,  in  whatever 
office,  confines  himself  strictly  within  the  limits  of  his 

[182] 


TURNING  GOVERNMENT  OVER  TO  CUBANS 

defined  powers.    Without  such  restraint,  there  can  be 
no  free  constitutional  government. 

"Under  the  order  pursuant  to  which  you  have  been 
elected  and  convened  you  have  no  duty  and  no  author- 
ity to  take  part  in  the  present  government  of  the 
island.  Your  powers  are  strictly  limited  by  the  terms 
of  that  order." 

The  sessions  of  the  Convention  were  marked 
by  very  full  discussions,  and  resulted  in  the  adop- 
tion of  a  Constitution  and  an  electoral  law. 
The  Constitution  in  its  final  form  was  adopted 
on  June  12,  1901,  seven  months  after  the 
Convention  first  met,  and  the  new  election 
laws  were  published  several  months  later.  Mean- 
while another  general  election  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  municipal  officers  was  held  on  June 
16,  1901,  and  this  gave  the  Cubans  another 
chance  to  learn  self-government.  Although  they 
had  learned  much  by  sad  experience  during  the 
year  intervening  since  the  first  election,  they  still 
showed  a  tendency  to  vote  for  radicals  and  dema- 
gogues. This  was  particularly  true  in  the  larger 
towns,  and  as  a  result  the  Cuban  public  was  again 
betrayed  by  its  officials,  though  to  a  lesser  de- 
gree. 

In  Habana,  the  municipal  government  was 
characterized  by  very  marked  incompetency,  and 
by  a  disposition  to  neglect  public  needs  in  a  strug- 
gle for  personal  advancement  and  profit.  The 
City  Council  did  not  fairly  represent  the  most 
intelligent  element  of  the  city,  which  had  a  large 

[183] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

proportion  of  educated,  conservative  people,  but 
who  unfortunately  had  neglected  to  take  any  ac- 
tive interest  in  public  affairs.  Results  injurious 
to  the  city  were  only  checked  by  the  constant  su- 
pervision of  the  Governor.  Much  direct  inter- 
vention in  municipal  affairs  was  on  his  part  made 
necessary  by  scandalous  conduct  of  officials  of  the 
city. 

In  the  city  of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  the  adminis- 
tration was  so  bad  that  it  necessitated  the  re- 
moval of  the  mayor,  and  the  election  of  a  suc- 
cessor. Bad  municipal  government  was  most  in 
evidence  in  the  larger  towns,  where  political  ad- 
venturers, supported  by  the  unprincipled  portion 
of  the  press,  had  been  elected  to  office.  In  each 
and  every  instance  they  gave  a  poor  administra- 
tion. Due  to  Governor  Wood's  foresight  they 
had  their  day  under  conditions  which  rendered 
their  control  easy,  made  the  people  less  like- 
ly in  the  future  to  repeat  the  mistake,  and 
caused  the  ultimate  disappearance  of  the  dema- 
gogue type  of  candidate  from  successful  Cuban 
political  life.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  admin- 
istration had  improved  so  much  over  that  of  the 
preceding  year  that  the  prospects  for  the  future 
were  bright. 

By  the  end  of  1901,  after  three  years  of  Amer- 
ican occupancy,  Governor  Wood  was  able  to  in- 
itiate the  final  steps  looking  towards  the  transfer 
of  the  reins  of  government  to  the  Cubans. 

[184] 


TURNING  GOVERNMENT  OVER  TO  CUBANS 

In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  electoral- 
law  adopted  by  the  constitutional  convention,  a 
preliminary  general  election  was  held  on  the  last 
day  of  the  year  1901,  exactly  three  years  after 
the  Americans  had  formally  taken  control  of  the 
Island,  and  a  final  one  on  February  24,  1902. 
A  President,  a  Vice-President,  a  Senate  and  a 
House  of  Representatives  were  there  elected. 

The  newly  elected  congress  held  a  preliminary 
session  in  Havana  on  May  5th,  and  on  May  16th 
the  following  order  was  issued  by  Governor 
Wood,  the  final  one  of  his  administration. 

"Headquarters  Department  of  Cuba, 

"Havana,  May  16,  1902. 
"It  is  hereby  made  known  to  the  people  of  Cuba: 
"1.  That  the  Congress  of  Cuba  elected  on  December 
31,  1 90 1,  and  February  24,  1902,  under  the  provis- 
ions of  the  electoral  law  published  in  Orders  No.  218, 
October  14,  1901,  these  headquarters,  having  been 
duly  convened  in  Habana  on  the  5th  day  of  May, 
1902,  pursuant  to  orders  No.  101,  April  14,  1902, 
jthese  headquarters  have  examined  into  the  credentials 
and  decided  that  the  following-named  persons  have 
been  duly  elected.,, 

Then  followed  a  list  of  the  twenty-four  newly 
elected  Senators,  and  of  the  sixty-one  members 
of  the  new  House  of  Representatives. 

"2.  That  the  Congress  so  convened  after  counting 
and  ratifying  the  electoral  vote  has  found  and  pro- 
claimed to  be  elected  President  of  the  Republic  of 
Cuba  Tomas  Estrada  Palma,  and  to  be  elected  Vice- 

[185] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

President    of    the    Republic    of    Cuba    Luis    Estevez 
Romero. 

"3.  That  the  said  Congress  has  adjourned  to  meet  at 
Havana  on  the  20th  day  of  May,  1902,  at  12  o'clock 
noon. 

"4.  That  on  the  said  20th  day  of  May,  1902,  at  12 
o'clock  noon  the  constitution  adopted  by  the  constitu- 
tional convention  at  Havana  on  the  21st  day  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1 90 1,  together  with  the  appendix  to  the  said 
constitution  adopted  by  said  convention  on  the  12th 
day  of  June,  1901,  will  be  promulgated  as  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Republic  of  Cuba,  and  will  go  into  full 
force  and  effect  and  thereupon  and  at  that  time  the 
occupation  of  Cuba  by  the  United  States  and  the  mil- 
itary government  of  the  Island  will  cease  and  deter- 
mine, and  the  government  and  control  of  the  island 
will  be  transferred  to  the  President  and  Congress  so 
elected,  to  be  held  and  exercised  by  them  under  the 
constitution  so  promulgated. 

"Such  transfer  will  be  upon  the  understanding  and 
condition  that  the  new  Government  does  thereby,  and 
by  the  acceptance  thereof,  pursuant  to  the  provisions 
of  the  said  appendix  to  the  constitution,  assume  and 
undertake  all  and  several  of  the  obligations  assumed 
by  the  United  States  with  respect  to  Cuba  by  the  treaty 
between  the  United  States  of  America  and  Her  Maj- 
esty the  Queen  Regent  of  Spain,  signed  at  Paris  on  the 
10th  day  of  December,  1898. 

"Leonard  Wood, 
"Military  Governor." 

Thus  terminated  Leonard  Wood's  governor- 
ship of  Cuba,  of  which  his  direct  superior,  Elihu 

[186] 


TURNING  GOVERNMENT  OVER  TO  CUBANS 

Root,  Secretary  of  War,  said  officially  before  the 
Military  Affairs  Committee  of  the  United  States 
Senate : — 

"From  December,  1899,  until  General  Wood 
came  out  of  Cuba  in  May,  1902,  I  kept  track  of 
what  was  done,  and  studied  the  subject  as  care- 
fully as  any  business  man  ever  studied  his  own 
business,  or  any  lawyer  ever  studied  a  case  which 
he  was  to  try.  I  went  to  Cuba  three  times  and 
went  all  around  the  Island  and  visited  the 
camps  and  the  army  posts  and  the  prisons 
and  hospitals  and  asylums  and  the  schools 
and  public  works ;  I  talked  with  everybody  I  could 
get  hold  of  and  got  all  the  information  I  could 
get  by  conversation  with  soldiers  and  civilians 
and  Americans  and  Cubans.  I  read  the  reports 
and  I  directed  the  course  of  the  Government  in 
Cuba,  and  I  knew  what  was  going  on ;  and  I  feel 
under  a  debt  of  the  greatest  gratitude  to  Gen- 
eral Wood  for  what  I  think  is  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  and  meritorious  pieces  of  work  ever 
done  by  an  American." 


[187] 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  CONQUEST  OF  YELLOW  FEVER 

It  is  generally  appreciated  that  the  final  build- 
ing of  the  Panama  Canal,  under  General  Goethals, 
was  made  possible  through  the  application  by 
Surgeon  Gorgas  of  certain  measures  preventa- 
tive of  yellow  fever,  based  on  the  knowledge  that 
the  disease  was  transmitted  by  mosquitoes. 

But  many  have  forgotten  that  the  original  con- 
quest of  yellow  fever  was  one  of  the  triumphs 
of  Leonard  Wood's  Cuban  administration,  and 
that  it  was  under  his  supervision  that  the  cause 
of  the  plague  was  discovered,  and  its  prevention 
first  accomplished. 

Dr.  Rixey,  the  well-known  army  surgeon,  once 
said:  "When  history  has  forgotten  General 
Wood  the  Soldier,  and  Governor  Wood  the  Ad- 
ministrator, it  will  still  remember  Doctor  Wood 
the  Surgeon  who  conquered  Yellow  Fever." 

When  reminded  that  the  actual  work  was  car- 
ried out  by  Surgeon  Walter  Reed  and  a  Board 
composed  of  Doctors  Lazaer,  Kean  and  Carroll, 
he  replied:  "There  were  a  few  of  us  doctors  who 
suspected  that  mosquitoes  were  responsible  for 
the  transmission  of  the  fever,  but  it  was  only 

[188] 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  YELLOW  FEVEB 

the  least  credited  of  several  theories.  We  never 
had  any  opportunity  to  prove  which  theory  was 
true  and  which  false,  until  we  worked  under 
Wood.  Then,  at  last,  we  had  one  in  authority 
who  possessed  sufficient  medical  knowledge  to 
realize  that  careful  and  extensive  experiments 
were  absolutely  necessary ;  one  who  had  the  power 
to  authorize  and  finance  such  experiments;  and 
above  all,  one  who  had  the  courage  to  brave  the 
disapproval  of  the  vast  majority  of  his  fellow- 
physicians  and  fellow-countrymen. " 

The  cause  of  yellow  fever  had  been  a  problem 
which  had  puzzled  mankind  for  centuries.  At 
the  time  when  Wood  first  went  to  Cuba,  the  most 
advanced  theory  was  that  the  dread  sickness  was 
a  filth  disease,  due  to  unsanitary  conditions,  and 
that  it  could  best  be  prevented  by  individual 
cleanliness  and  public  sanitation. 

The  general  opinion  of  physicians  prior  to  the 
date  when  Governor  Wood's  investigations  began 
is  fairly  represented  in  the  ninth  edition  of  the 
Encyclopedia  Britannica,  published  a  few  years 
before  the  liberation  of  Cuba.  To  reread  a  por- 
tion of  that  article  will  make  more  impressive  the 
tremendous  advance  made  by  the  experiments 
in  Cuba.  The  article  says — "Yellow  Fever  is  a 
*  *  *  filth  disease,  the  infection  issuing  from  the 
soil  or  from  some  medium  equivalent  thereto. 

"In  New  Orleans  in  the  epidemic  of  1878  the 
deaths  numbered  4,056.  During  the  great  pe- 
riod of  Yellow  Fever  (1793-1805)  the  disease 

[189]  ' 


LEONARD  WOOD 

found  its  way  time  after  time  to  the  ports  of 
Spain,  the  last  severe  epidemic  on  Spanish  soil 
was  at  Barcelona  in  1821  when  5,000  people  died. 
In  Lisbon  in  1857  more  than  6,000  died  within 
a  few  weeks.  .  .  . 

"It  is  admitted  that  the  endemic  influence 
which  causes  it,  is  effluvial  or  miasmatic  from  the 
harbor  mud,  or  from  the  bilge-water  of  a  ship 
that  had  lain  in  the  harbor,  or  from  the  alluvial 
foundations  of  houses  nearest  to  the  beach.  So 
far  as  prevalence  on  shore  is  concerned,  it  seems 
to  follow  the  same  laws  as  cholera  and  typhoid 
fever;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  an  exogenous  or  soil 
infection,  a  fermentation  of  filth  in  the  ground, 
with  a  seasonal  activity  closely  following  the 
movements  of  the  subsoil  water. 

"To  establish  an  epidemic  in  a  distant  port,  it 
has  been  necessary  that  there  should  be  carried 
thither  a  material  quantity  of  the  specifically 
poisonous  harbor-filth  in  a  ship's  bilges,  and  that 
the  conditions  favorable  to  its  increase  and  diffu- 
sion by  fermentation  should  exist  in  the  new  soil. 

"Steady  accretions  of  the  filth  of  slave  ships, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  traffic  to  America, 
down  to  its  abolition  in  1808,  and  its  final  cessa- 
tion previous  to  i860,  would  account  for  a  pe- 
culiarly pestiferous  state  of  the  Habana  harbor 
mud,  of  the  beach  and  even  of  the  water;  in 
fact,  the  water  of  the  Bay  of  Havana  was  pestif- 

[190] 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  YELLOW  FEVER 

erous  and  full  of  organic  matter,  even  where  it 
was  several  fathoms  deep,  and  there  was  a  stand- 
ing order  in  the  British  navy  against  admitting 
it  into  ships. 

"There  is  no  other  theory  of  yellow  fever  to 
contest  the  field  with  the  slave-trade  hypothe- 
sis; that  alone  satisfies  all  the  conditions  of  a 
correct  syntheses-historical,  geographical,  ethno- 
logical, physiological,  and,  some  would  say,  even 
ethical.  ***** 

"The  part  played  by  putrefactive  organisms  is 
a  subordinate  one.  In  the  general  grouping  of 
factors  they  can  only  come  in  after  we  have 
found  the  specific  integral  of  the  yellow-fever 
soil  in  its  endemic  seats;  they  can  not  elaborate 
the  miasmatic  poison  of  yellow  fever  without  a 
definite  pabulum,  any  more  than  the  'lactic  ba- 
cillus' can  produce  lactic  fermentation  without 
milk-sugar. 

"In  regard  to  its  sanitation  at  the  endemic  seats 
in  the  West  Indies,  Guiana,  Brazil,  Central 
America,  and  the  Gulf  States  of  the  American 
Union,  the  same  principles  apply  as  to  the  other 
filth-diseases.  The  object  is  to  secure  a  clean  soil, 
and  to  that  end  drainage  and  sewerage  serve 
best." 

Proceeding  on  this  accepted  supposition  that 
yellow  fever  was  a  filth  disease,  the  most  probable 
one  so  far  advanced,  Leonard  Wood  opened  his 
campaign  against  the  fever  in  Santiago,  in  the 

[191] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

autumn  in  1898  along  that  line  and  at  first  ap- 
peared to  attain  good  results.  By  mid-winter  of 
1 898- 1 899  the  city  was  spotless,  the  streets  were 
clean,  all  refuse  was  promptly  disposed  of,  and  an 
exceedingly  efficient  sanitary  system  was  in  oper- 
ation. As  a  result  the  general  death-rate  fell 
rapidly,  until  it  was  lower  than  in  many  cities 
in  the  United  States. 

Six  months  later,  however,  in  the  summer  of 
1899,  suddenly  and  unexpectedly,  a  terrible  epi- 
demic of  yellow  fever  broke  out,  although  when 
this  happened  the  town  of  Santiago  was  as  clean 
as  any  town  could  possibly  be. 

At  the  moment,  Governor  Wood  was  absent 
from  Cuba;  in  June,  1899,  he  had  gone  north 
to  New  England  to  receive  an  LL.D.  degree  from 
Harvard,  intending  to  be  away  for  ten  days, 
but  the  very  day  his  degree  was  presented  to  him, 
he  was  informed  by  cable  that  this  virulent  epi- 
demic of  yellow  fever  had  broken  out  in  San- 
tiago. 

Within  twenty- four  hours,  and  without  a  mo- 
ment's thought  of  his  own  danger  of  infection 
in  his  then  run-down  condition,  he  started  for 
Cuba,  taking  with  him  a  ton  of  sublimate  of  mer- 
cury, twenty  tons  of  chloride  of  lime,  and  50,000 
gallons  of  petroleum  with  more  to  follow. 

He  reached  Santiago  on  July  9th,  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  hot  tropical  summer  weather. 
Ten  days  after  his  arrival  the  plague  was  broken, 

[192] 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  YELLOW  FEVER 

and  the  daily  numbers  both  of  deaths  and  of  new 
cases  sharply  declined. 

It  was,  nevertheless,  a  hard  fight  and  mean- 
while thousands  had  died.  The  epidemic  was 
controlled  only  after  Governor  Wood  had  taken 
the  most  heroic  and  extreme  measures,  which  in- 
cluded the  removal  from  the  city  of  all  non-im- 
munes,  the  closing  of  all  infected  houses,  and  a 
thorough  cleansing  of  the  city  with  fire  and  disin: 
fectants,  with  the  additional  precaution  of  isolat- 
ing all  persons  stricken  with  the  fever.  All  in- 
fected material  was  burned.  Vaults  and  cess- 
pools were  saturated  with  kerosene  and  fired. 

Disinfection  was  carried  to  the  extent  of  sprin- 
kling the  streets  and  yards  with  a  solution  of  cor- 
rosive sublimate  of  mercury.  Triple  disinfection 
at  suitable  intervals  was  carried  out  in  all  quar- 
ters where  the  disease  broke  out.  Regulations 
were  promulgated  to  the  effect  that  all  infected 
houses  should  be  subsequently  inhabited  by  im- 
munes  only.  Ships  were  forbidden  to  approach 
the  piers,  and  non-immune  passengers  were  pro- 
hibited from  landing  in  the  city.  Army  Head- 
quarters and  all  the  troops  were  sent  to  high 
ground,  fifteen  miles  inland.  Non-immunes  were 
not  allowed  to  return  until  the  epidemic  had  en- 
tirely passed.  These  radical  measures  were  fi- 
nally effective  in  checking  the  disease. 

When  the  epidemic  broke  out,  Santiago  was 
as  clean  as  a  town  can  be  kept.  According  to 
then  existing  theories  there  was  absolutely  noth- 

[193] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

ing  in  the  condition  of  the  city  itself  to  account 
for  an  outbreak  of  yellow  fever.  This  fact  made 
Wood  suspect  that  although  every  improvement 
in  sanitation  decreased  the  number  of  cases  of 
all  true  filth  diseases  like  dysentery  and  enteric, 
and  also  of  semi-filth  diseases  such  as  typhoid 
and  malarial  fever,  nevertheless  yellow  fever 
could  not  be  eliminated  by  sanitary  precau- 
tions alone,  and  that  the  theory  which  classed  it 
as  a  filth  disease  was  incorrect.  Such  a  conclu- 
sion was  a  discouraging  one,  for  it  not  only 
proved  that  all  his  past  efforts  had  been  mistaken 
and  fruitless,  in  so  far  as  yellow  fever  was  con- 
cerned, but  it  threw  into  darkness  the  whole  sub- 
ject of  the  cause  and  prevention  of  this  plague. 
In  short,  it  left  him  without  a  single  proven  fact 
on  which  to  base  future  operations. 

That  same  summer  there  were  very  few  deaths 
from  yellow  fever  in  the  city  of  Habana,  where 
General  Ludlow,  the  American  Military  Gover- 
nor, who  also  believed  the  fever  was  a  filth  dis- 
ease, had  most  thoroughly  and  efficiently  cleaned 
the  city.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  fever  was  con- 
tinually present  in  Habana,  but  the  cases  were 
few  in  number  simply  because  there  was  com- 
paratively little  non-immune  material  for  it  to 
feed  on. 

In  the  fall  of  1899,  however,  Spanish  immi- 
grants began  to  flow  into  Cuba,  and  during  the 
autumn  and  winter  approximately  12,000  Spanish 
settlers  arrived  at  the  port  of  Habana,  about  one- 

[194] 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  YELLOW  FEVER 

half  of  this  number  remaining  in  that  city.  Al- 
though yellow  fever  was  unusual  during  the  win- 
ter months,  there  resulted  a  serious  outbreak  in 
December  which  lasted  throughout  the  winter 
and  increased  in  intensity  during  the  spring  and 
summer.  It  was  kept  within  bounds  only  by  a 
most  thorough  systematic  house-to-house  in- 
spection, by  careful  supervision  of  all  sick  per- 
sons, by  the  immediate  removal  to  the  yellow 
fever  hospitals  of  all  persons  without  regard  to 
class  or  position  who  were  taken  sick  with  the 
disease.  Nevertheless  approximately  1,400  cases 
developed  in  Habana  during  the  first  six  months 
of  1900. 

During  that  summer,  the  fever  also  ap- 
peared in  the  garrisoned  towns  of  Pinal  del  Rio 
and  Santa  Clara,  where  the  sanitation  was  un- 
der military  supervision  and  where  there  was 
nothing  in  the  conditions  of  the  towns  them- 
selves which  could  possibly  account  for  the  out- 
break. The  troops  had  to  be  sent  into  camp  and 
rigid  local  quarantine  measures  were  inaugurated. 
In  this  manner  the  spread  of  the  fever  was  event- 
ually checked. 

During  these  various  epidemics,  the  loss  of 
United  States  officers  was  very  serious,  and  in 
spite  of  all  precautions  there  was  also  a  consider- 
able loss  of  life  anions  the  enlisted  men  and  ci- 
vilian officials. 

The  existence  of  this  deplorable  condition  in  a 
perfectly  clean  city,  added  to  his  own  experience 

[195] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

in  Santiago,  finally  convinced  General  Wood  that 
the  spread  of  yellow  fever  could  not  be  controlled 
by  sanitary  and  disinfecting  methods  alone,  and 
that  a  new  scientific  explanation  would  have  to  be 
worked  out. 

The  situation  was  one  of  great  discouragement. 
It  was  evident  that  the  disease  could  be  com- 
batted  in  the  small  towns  by  controlling  the  lo- 
cal non-immunes  and  cutting  or!  all  intercourse 
with  infected  districts,  or  in  extreme  cases  send- 
ing the  non-immunes  to  the  mountains  above  the 
fever  level,  as  was  done  in  Jamaica.  Such  meth- 
ods though  difficult  were  feasible  in  villages,  or 
in  times  of  great  emergency  were  possible  even 
in  towns  of  40,000  to  50,000  inhabitants  like  San- 
tiago, but  they  could  not  be  employed  in  a  large 
city  the  size  of  Habana,  without  seriously  and 
permanently  injuring  its  commerce  and  industry. 

As  early  as  1881  a  physician  in  Habana,  named 
Finlay,  had  begun  to  express  and  publish  the 
seemingly  preposterous  theory  that  yellow  fever 
might  be  transmitted  by  the  bite  of  a  mosquito. 
He  was  ignored  or  ridiculed  by  the  entire  medi- 
cal profession,  but  nevertheless  adhered  to  his 
belief,  for  which  he  was  still  vainly  trying  to  get 
a  fair  hearing  when  Wood  became  Governor  of 
all  Cuba  in  1900. 

He  had  never  been  able  to  make  any  impres- 
sion upon  the  Spaniards,  or  even  to  gain  an  au- 
dience with  their  officials,  but  he  now  received  an 

[196] 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  YELLOW  FEVER 

immediate  and  sympathetic  hearing  from  Leon- 
ard Wood,  to  whom  everything  relating  to  yellow 
fever  had  become  a  matter  of  vital  interest. 

Finlay  could  not  substantiate  his  theory  as  he 
had  lacked  the  time  and  funds,  and  perhaps  the 
temperament,  for  experimental  work.  This 
had  prevented  him  from  forging  a  single  link 
in  the  necessary  chain  of  evidence.  He  had  no 
opinion  as  to  the  type  of  mosquito  which  might 
carry  the  fever,  nor  how  the  mosquito  itself  be- 
came infected,  nor  of  the  conditions  under  which 
it  could  transmit  the  disease. 

Upon  Wood's  suggestion  a  board  of  army  sur- 
geons was  appointed  by  Surgeon-General  Stern- 
berg and  sent  to  Habana  to  investigate  Finlay's 
theory.  Doctor  Walter  Reed  was  chairman  of 
this  Board  and  his  principal  associates  were  Doc- 
tors Kean,  Lazaer  and  Carroll.  Governor  Wood 
allotted  to  them,  from  the  Cuban  Treasury,  the 
necessary  appropriation  of  funds  with  which  to 
begin  experiments.  The  medical  officers  took  up 
the  work  in  a  very  thorough  and  conscientious 
manner,  starting  at  the  point  previously  reached 
by  Doctor  Finlay.  For  the  purposes  of  experi- 
ment, they  accepted  his  theory  that  yellow  fever 
was  transmitted  by  a  mosquito.  After  several 
preliminary  investigations,  they  finally  succeeded 
in  inoculating  mosquitoes  with  yellow  fever 
germs. 

The  next  step  was  to  prove  that  the  inoculated 
mosquito  could  transmit  the  disease  to  human  be- 

[197] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

ings.  Doctor  Lazaer  submitted  himself  as  a  sub- 
ject for  an  experiment.  He  allowed  himself  to 
be  bitten  by  an  infected  mosquito,  took  the  fever 
and  died, — died  for  his  country  and  humanity, — 
and  seldom  since  the  dawn  of  history  has  the  sac- 
rifice of  a  single  life  wrought  such  good  to  his 
fellow  men. 

Doctor  Carroll  also  allowed  himself  to  be  bit- 
ten and  had  a  serious  case  of  yellow  fever,  but 
finally  recovered. 

The  two  remaining  physicians,  Reed  and  Kean, 
then  presented  themselves  at  Wood's  headquar- 
ters, and  stated  that  they  believed  the  point  had 
been  reached  where  it  had  become  necessary  to 
make  a  considerable  number  of  experiments  on 
human  beings,  if  their  final  conclusions  were  to 
be  decisive.  They  wanted  new  and  larger  ap- 
propriations to  pay  those  who  were  willing  to 
submit  themselves  to  experiments,  and  they  also 
needed  official  authority  to  make  the  tests,  which 
were  almost  certain  to  cause  further  loss  of  hu- 
man life. 

They  were  informed  that  whatever  money  was 
required  would  be  made  available,  and  that  Gov- 
ernor Wood  himself  would  assume  all  responsi- 
bility for  the  experiments.  They  were  cautioned 
to  make  tests  only  upon  people  who  were  in  sound 
health  and  of  legal  age,  and  who  had  been  made 
to  understand  the  humanitarian  purpose  of  the 
experiment,  as  well  as  the  risk  they  assumed. 
Reed  and  Kean  were  always  to  secure  the  writ- 

[198] 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  YELLOW  FEVER 

ten  consent  of  those  who  offered  themselves  as 
subjects. 

A  large  number  of  experiments  were  there- 
upon commenced,  the  details  of  which  and  the  re- 
sults obtained  are  now  matters  of  general  knowl- 
edge among  members  of  the  medical  profession 
and  sanitarians. 

The  Stegomyia  Mosquito  was  found  to  be  be- 
yond question  the  sole  means  of  transmitting  the 
yellow  fever  germ.  It  was  proved  that  this  mos- 
quito could  become  infected  only  when  it  had 
bitten  a  person  sick  with  the  yellow  fever  during 
the  first  five  days  of  the  disease.  It  then  re- 
quired approximately  ten  days  for  the  germ  to 
develop  within  the  mosquito,  before  the  insect 
could  transmit  the  disease.  All  non-immunes  who 
were  bitten  by  that  species  of  mosquito,  under  the 
conditions  described,  invariably  developed  a  pro- 
nounced case  of  yellow  fever  in  from  three  and  a 
half  to  five  days  from  the  time  they  were  bitten, 
irrespective  of  the  surrounding  sanitary  condi- 
tions and  apparently  irrespective  of  their  own 
physical  condition. 

It  was  further  demonstrated  that  infection 
from  cases  so  produced  could  again  be  transmit- 
ted by  the  Stegomyia  Mosquito  to  another  per- 
son who  would  in  his  turn  contract  the  fever. 

It  was  also  proved  that  yellow  fever  could  be 
transmitted  by  means  of  the  hyperdermic  intro- 
duction of  infected  blood  or  blood  serum,  even 
after  it  had  been  forced  under  pressure  through 

[J99] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

porcelain.  This  experiment  indicated  that  the  or- 
ganism was  exceedingly  minute, — so  small,  in 
fact,  that  it  was  beyond  the  power  of  any  micro- 
scope then  in  use  to  detect,  which  explained  why 
the  germ  had  never  been  recognized  or  discov- 
ered. € 

It  was  thus  positively  demonstrated  that  yel- 
low fever  was  not  a  filth  disease,  that  it  could 
not  be  transmitted  by  clothing  or  contact  and  that 
consequently  all  the  old  methods  of  fumigation 
and  disinfection  were  only  useful  in  so  far  as  they 
served  to  destroy  mosquitoes,  their  young  and 
their  eggs. 

In  short,  it  was  proved  that  the  yellow  fever 
germs  could  exist  only  in  two  places :  in  the  body 
of  a  Stegomyia  Mosquito,  or  in  the  body  of  a 
man.  Therefore,  if  Stegomyia  Mosquitoes  could 
be  prevented  from  biting  those  who  were  sick  with 
yellow  fever,  the  germ  would  gradually  perish 
from  the  earth,  and  eventually  become  as  extinct 
as  the  dodo. 

With  the  establishment  of  these  facts,  it  was 
possible  for  Governor  Wood  to  inaugurate  an 
entirely  new  method  of  dealing  with  the  disease, 
' — a  method  very  similar  to  that  now  adopted  in 
the  treatment  of  malarial  fever,  only  carried  out 
more  thoroughly. 

Yellow  fever  cases,  as  soon  as  discovered,  were 
carefully  isolated  in  premises  inclosed  with  fine 
wire  screens  to  prevent  the  mosquito  from  reach- 
ing the  patients.     The  houses  in  which  the  dis- 

[200] 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  YELLOW  FEVER 

ease  had  occurred  were  sealed  up  and  filled  with 
formaldehyde  for  the  purpose  of  killing  all  mos- 
quitoes which  might  by  any  chance  have  bitten 
the  patient.  The  same  precautions  were  taken 
in  the  houses  adjoining  on  either  side. 

The  effect  of  this  method  of  dealing  with  the 
disease  w7as  startling.  The  fever  was  not  only 
immediately  checked  but  was  soon  brought  to  an 
end  at  a  time  of  the  year  when  it  was  usually  on 
the  increase.  This  was  accomplished  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  a  large  number  of  non-immunes 
were  constantly  arriving  in  Habana  and  in  other 
parts  of  the  Island. 

Cuba  was  completely  freed  from  yellow  fever 
almost  at  once.  Not  a  single  case  originated  in 
the  Eastern  end  of  the  Island  during  the  last 
three  years  of  Wood's  governorship  and  none  in 
Habana  for  more  than  a  year  before  his  depar- 
ture. Moreover  the  Island  has  been  free  from 
the  disease  ever  since. 

The  disagreeable  and  costly  process  of  disin- 
fection, formerly  in  use,  was  now  practically  done 
away  with.  The  new  means  employed  were  much 
less  destructive  to  property  and  much  less  annoy- 
ing to  the  people. 

Thus  a  plague,  which  in  Habana  alone  had  for 
years  claimed  an  average  of  600  deaths  a  year 
and  probably  caused  ten  times  as  many  cases,  was 
absolutely  blotted  out  and  became  non-existent. 

Yellow  fever  still  continued  at  Brazilian,  Isth- 
mian,   and   Mexican   ports,    and   against   these 

[201] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

countries  Cuba  maintained  a  rigorous  and  effec- 
tive quarantine  with  the  result  that  from  this 
source  no  new  cases  came  into  the  Island  from 
which  mosquitoes  might  spread  the  contagion. 

The  work  of  the  commission,  conceived  and 
encouraged  by  Leonard  Wood,  and  of  which  Doc- 
tor Reed  was  the  President  and  directing  spirit, 
was  of  the  greatest  importance  to  humanity  at 
large.  No  medical  discovery  of  equal  importance 
had  been  made  since  vaccination  for  smallpox 
was  first  used. 


[202] 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE    RATHBONE    CASE 

When  Leonard  Wood  was  appointed  Gover- 
nor of  Cuba,  he  appreciated  that  one  of  his  great- 
est problems  would  be  to  prevent  American  poli- 
tics from  being  introduced  into  Cuban  adminis- 
tration, in  the  form  of  appointments  made  by  po- 
litical influence  with  the  resultant  inefficiency 
and  graft. 

Roosevelt  was  equally  alive  to  the  dangers  of 
the  situation  and  wrote  in  an  article  in  The  Out- 
look: 

"If  political  considerations  of  the  baser  sort 
are  supreme  in  the  administration  of  New  York 
City,  that  is  New  York  City's  own  fault;  but  in 
Cuba  it  would  be  the  fault  of  the  American  peo- 
ple and  not  of  the  inhabitants,  and  would  estab- 
lish a  just  cause  of  grievance  on  behalf  of  the 
latter/' 

It  was  not  long  before  Wood  was  brought  face 
to  face  with  the  very  complication  which  he  had 
feared. 

Prior  to  his  appointment  as  Governor  of  Cuba, 

[203] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

a  man  named  Estes  G.  Rathbone  had  been  made 
Director  of  Posts  for  the  Island. 

In  the  early  part  of  Wood's  government, 
frauds  were  suspected  in  the  Cuban  Postal  De- 
partment. It  was  charged  that  over  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  stamps,  which  the  rec- 
ords claimed  had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  had  actu- 
ally been  secretly  preserved  and  sold. 

Rathbone  was  implicated,  and  was  indicted  by 
the  Cuban  courts.  His  political  friends  in  the 
United  States  came  to  his  aid.  They  furnished 
him  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  bail,  and  moved 
Heaven  and  Earth  to  keep  him  from  coming  to 
trial.  Some  of  them,  evidently  convinced  of  his 
innocency,  threatened  to  "get"  Wood  if  the  mat- 
ter were  not  hushed  up. 

The  case  nevertheless  took  its  due  course  in  the 
Cuban  courts,  and  after  a  trial,  which  lasted 
for  over  two  years,  Rathbone  was  convicted  and 
sentenced  to  four  years'  imprisonment.  He 
then  appealed  his  case  to  the  Cuban  Supreme 
Court,  but  before  it  could  come  up  for  reconsider- 
ation, Wood  had  completed  his  work  as  Gov- 
ernor and  had  turned  over  the  administration  of 
the  Island  to  General  Maximo  Palma,  the  re- 
cently elected  President  of  Cuba. 

The  new  Cuban  Government,  as  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  its  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  United 
States,  decided  to  pardon  and  release  all  Ameri- 
cans who  were  then  confined  in  Cuban  prisons 
or  who  were   under   sentence,   including  those 

[204] 


THE  RATHBONE  CASE 

convicted  of  the  Post  Office  frauds.  Rathbone 
was  given  the  alternative  of  (akin--  his  chance 
to  clear  himself  by  standing  on  his  appeal  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  or  of  admitting  his  guill  and  ac- 
cepting the  certainty  of  liberty  on  the  basis  of 
this  general  amnesty  to  Americans.  1  le  accepted 
the  latter  alternative. 

About  this  time  Wood  left  Cuba,  having  suc- 
cessfully completed  his  gigantic  task  of  recon- 
struction, which  had  won  for  him  world-wide 
fame.  1  [ad  he  been  an  Englishman  and  rendered 
the  British  Empire  such  signal  service  he  would 
probably  have  been  made  an  Earl  by  his  grateful 
country,  and  given  an  extremely  generous  an- 
nuity. Lord  Cromer,  the  organizer  of  Egypt 
and  recognized  as  Britian's  greatest  Colonial  Ad- 
ministrator, said  that  Wood's  work  in  Cuba  was 
the  best  colonial  work  of  the  century  and  that 
he  was  the  only  man  in  the  world  who  was  com- 
pletely fitted  to  carry  on  the  work  which  Cromer 
himself  had  initiated  in  Egypt,  and  only  regretted 
that  Wood  was  an  American  and  not  a  British 
subject 

It  certainly  was  only  reasonable  that  his  own 
Country  should  wish  to  confer  some  reward  on 
him  as  a  scant  acknowledgment  of  her  debt  to 
him.  The  only  reward  available,  however, 
seemed  to  he  his  promotion  to  the  rank  of  Major- 
General ;  hnt  this  he  was  already  entitled  to  by 
seniority,  independent  of  his  work  in  Cuba,  for 
he  had.  been  made  a  brigadier-general  of  the  reg- 

[205] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

ular  army  by  President  McKinley,  several  years 
before  and  was  now  the  senior  brigadier  of  the 
Army  and  as  such  in  line  for  the  first  promotion 
to  Major-General. 

There  being  at  the  time  two  vacancies  in  that 
grade,  President  Roosevelt  named  the  two  Senior 
Brigadier  Generals  to  fill  the  vacancies,  Leonard 
Wood  and  Samuel  S.  Sumner. 

Contrary  to  popular  belief  this  was  the  only 
promotion  ever  given  to  Wood  by  Roosevelt,  and 
Roosevelt  never  "jumped"  Wood  over  any  single 
officer  of  the  Army.  The  only  time  Wood  was 
ever  jumped  over  anybody  was  when  he  was 
made  Brigadier  General  for  gallantry  in  battle 
in  Cuba  by  President  McKinley, — just  as  Funs- 
ton  received  that  same  rank  for  similar  bravery 
in  the  Philippines. 

When  Wood's  appointment  went  to  the  Senate 
for  the  necessary  confirmation,  Rathbone  stirred 
up  opposition,  and  charged  that  he  had  not  been 
given  a  fair  trial  in  Cuba  and  that  his  conviction 
had  been  engineered  by  Governor  Wood.  In  an 
effort  to  strengthen  his  case,  he  also  endeavored 
to  discredit  Wood  and  preferred  various  formal 
charges  against  him,  even  insinuating  that  he  had 
accepted  bribes.  This  held  up  Wood's  confirma- 
tion as  Major-General,  and  gave  rise  to  a  com- 
plete and  searching  investigation  of  Wood's  past 
record  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Military  Af- 
fairs. 

The  history  of  Rathbone  case  is  of  particular 
[206] 


THE  RATHBONE  CASE 

importance  because  it  is  the  only  time  in  Wood's 
entire  career  when  his  sinister  enemies  have  ever 
dared  to  come  out  into  the  open.  The  resulting 
Senate  investigation  ended  in  their  utter  rout, 
and  in  the  complete  vindication  of  Wood's 
entire  record;  for  once  under  way  the  Senate 
Committee  not  only  dealt  with  Rathbone's  spe- 
cific charges,  but  also  examined  fully  into 
Wood's  military  record. 

Rathbone  indirectly  rendered  Wood  a  great 
service,  for  the  Senate  investigation  lifted  the 
record  of  his  patriotic  work  from  out  the  musty 
files  of  the  War  Department,  and  spread  it  con- 
spicuously upon  the  pages  of  American  his- 
tory, thus  preserving  for  future  generations  a 
most  conclusive  record  of  his  great  service  to  his 
country,  and  of  the  high  opinions  which  the  lead- 
ers of  his  generation  held  of  his  character  and 
achievements, — a  record  which  might  otherwise 
have  been  lost. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  lack  of  space  forbids 
giving  in  full  the  report  of  the  Senate  Committee 
("The  Confirmation  of  Leonard  Wood,"  Execu- 
tive Document  No.  i,  58th  Congress,  26.  Session, 
January  4th,  1904,  made  public  Jan.  18th,  1907) 
for  its  eighty-five  pages  of  print  are  crammed 
with  evidence  and  endorsement  favorable  to 
Wood. 

The  rest  of  this  chapter  is  made  up  of  quota- 
tions from  the  report,  which  includes  the  follow- 
ing statements : — 

[207] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

"Mr.  Rathbone  testified  at  length,  and  submit- 
ted numerous  exhibits  in  support  of  his  charges. 

"In  the  examination  of  Mr.  Rathbone  and  the 
other  witnesses  produced  by  him,  or  subpoenaed 
at  his  request,  the  utmost  latitude  was  given  by 
the  committee. 

"The  only  restriction  of  the  committee  was,  that 
purely  hearsay  testimony  should  not  be  received ; 
and  this  restriction  was  not  in  all  cases  adhered 
to;  on  the  contrary,  a  number  of  witnesses  were 
allowed  to  state  what  had  been  told  them  in  re- 
gard to  facts  concerning  which  they  disavowed 
having  any  personal  knowledge. 

"This  statement  is  made  because  of  the  fact  that 
it  was  widely  published  in  the  newspapers  during 
the  progress  of  the  investigation  that  the  com- 
mittee were  applying  the  strict  rules  of  the  courts 
with  respect  to  the  admission  of  testimony  and 
that,  on  that  account,  it  was  made  difficult  to  es- 
tablish the  charges  preferred. 

"The  Secretary  of  War  appeared  before  the 
committee  and  testified  upon  all  the  charges  and 
points  made  that  involved  in  any  way  the  War 
Department  or  to  which  the  War  Department 
had  any  official  relation.  ***** 

"So  far  as  the  general  charge  is  concerned  that 
Rathbone  and  others  implicated  in  the  postal 
frauds  did  not  have  a  fair  trial,  because  of  inter- 

[208] 


THE  RATHBONE  CASE 

ference  by  General  Wood,  no  evidence  was  pro- 
duced to  the  committee  in  support  of  the  same. 
On  the  contrary,  in  so  far  as  the  committee  were 
required  by  the  charges  they  investigated  and 
the  testimony  they  heard  to  consider  the  trial 
of  the  postal  fraud  cases,  and  particularly  the 
trial  of  Rathbone,  they  were  of  the  opinion  that 
General  Wood  stated  the  exact  truth  when,  at 
page  362  of  the  record,  in  closing  his  statement 
made  in  answer  to  the  statement  of  Mr.  Rath- 
bone  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Relations 
with  Cuba,  he  said : 

"  'I  reiterate  most  positively  that  every  effort  was 
made  to  give  Mr.  Rathbone  an  absolutely  fair  trial,  and 
I  declare  that,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief, 
he  did  have  such  a  trial ;  that  he  was  given  every  op- 
portunity to  prepare  his  defense;  that  he  was  defended 
by  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  island;  that  no  influence 
whatever,  directly  or  indirectly,  was  used  to  influence 
in  any  way  the  judgment  of  the  court  or  affect  its  per- 
sonnel. .  .  . 

"  'In  conclusion,  it  might  not  be  inappropriate  to  in- 
vite attention  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Rathbone's  charge 
practically  implies  that  the  military  governor,  the  in- 
spector-general on  duty  in  Cuba,  the  Fourth  Assistant 
Postmaster-General,  a  large  number  of  post-office  in- 
spectors of  established  reputation,  the  auditors  of  the 
island  of  Cuba,  and  five  judges  of  the  audiencia  of 
Habana  (three  of  whom  were  appointed  by  Lenuza, 
Mr.  Rathbone's  attorney,  who  was  secretary  of  justice 
under  General  Brooke),  all  conspired  to  convict  him. 

[209] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

The  creation  of  such  a  situation  would  have  been  im- 
possible. 

"  The  complaint  would  have  had  a  truer  ring  had 
Mr.  Rathbone  declined  to  accept  a  pardon  and  taken 
his  case  before  the  supreme  court  of  Cuba/  " 

With  regard  to  the  charges  made  by  Rathbone 
against  General  Wood,  and  the  Senate  Commit- 
tee's action  thereon,  the  following  extract  from 
the  report  may  be  taken  as  a  sample : — 

"I  (Rathbone)  charge  General  Wood 

"With  accepting  gifts  from  an  organization  com- 
monly known  as  Jai  Alai,  to  which  he  had  granted  a 
ten  years'  exclusive  concession,  the  same  being  a  vio- 
lation of  the  so-called  Foraker  law,  which  prohibited 
the  granting  of  franchises  or  concessions  during  the 
occupation  of  the  Island  by  the  American  authorities. 
The  acceptance  of  these  gifts  constitutes  a  violation 
of  Article  397  of  the  Penal  Code  of  Cuba." 

"The  charge  was  serious,"  says  the  report, 
"and  it  was  proper  to  hear  testimony  with  respect 
to  it  at  great  length  as  the  committee  did,  only  be- 
cause it  carried  with  it  the  insinuation  that  Gen- 
eral Wood  had  granted  a  concession  to  the  Jai 
Alai  Society  as  set  forth  in  the  charge  in  con- 
sideration of  the  gifts  referred  to — in  short,  that 
he  had  been  guilty  of  corruption  in  the  matter. 
There  is  no  testimony  whatsoever  that  supports 
any  such  insinuation.  On  the  contrary  the  tes- 
timony,  facts,   and  circumstances  are  of  such 

[210] 


THE  RATHBONE  CASE 

character  as  to  warrant  the  statement  that  such 
an  insinuation  is  but  a  baseless  slander. 

"Aside  from  the  failure  of  the  testimony  to  sup- 
port any  such  insinuation,  the  evidence  affirma- 
tively refuses  it.  The  record  shows  that  General 
Wood  did  not  grant  any  concession  to  the  Jai 
Alai  Society  of  any  character  whatsoever,  and 
that  consequently,  to  begin  with,  there  was  no 
basis  for  any  such  charge/' 

The  really  important  question  before  the  Com- 
mittee was  the  promotion  of  Brigadier-General 
Wood  to  be  Major-General.  The  more  the  Com- 
mittee investigated  and  cross-questioned,  and  the 
more  they  learned  of  what  his  past  commanding 
officers  thought  of  him  and  his  work,  the  clearer 
became  his  well-earned  right  of  promotion. 

The  Committee's  report  concludes  with  the  fol- 
lowing statements: — 

"When  General  Wood  was  made  a  brigadier- 
general  in  the  Regular  Army  by  appointment  of 
President  McKinley,  and  by  the  unanimous  vote 
of  the  Senate,  he  was  advanced  over  many  offi- 
cers who  had  been  longer  in  the  service  and  who, 
until  then,  held  higher  rank  than  he  had  held. 
There  might  have  been  at  that  time  some  pro- 
priety in  urging  objection  on  such  an  account  to 
his  confirmation,  but  there  was  no  objection  of  the 
kind  because  it  was  then  well  understood  that  his 
promotion  by  President  McKinley  was  because — 
in  the  judgment  of  the  President,  who,  under  the 

[211] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Constitution  and  the  laws,  has  a  right  to  select 
without  regard  to  seniority  in  the  appointment  of 
generals — General  Wood  had  rendered  conspicu- 
ous and  meritorious  services  and  had  shown  abili- 
ties and  qualifications  that  well  entitled  him,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  President,  to  the  rank  he  was 
thus  giving  him,  especially  in  view  of  the  service 
he  was  then  rendering  as  military  governor  of 
Cuba.  The  Senate  and  all  others  who  were  in- 
terested to  have  knowledge  on  the  subject  were 
familiar  with  the  fact  that  the  advancement  of 
General  Wood  at  that  time  was  made  for  these 
reasons ;  and  that,  as  a  result  of  it,  he  was  given 
rank  over  brother  officers  who  had  theretofore 
been  his  superiors. 

"That  appointment  and  that  confirmation  do 
not  seem  to  be  now  open  to  objection ;  but  if  it  is 
to  be  considered  at  all  attention  is  called  to  the 
testimony  of  the  Secretary  of  War: 

"'....  Upon  a  review  of  General  Wood's  entire 
military  record,  I  think  it  fair  to  say  that  no  officer  of 
the  American  Army  below  the  grade  of  major-general 
has  held  more  important  commands,  rendered  more 
distinguished  service,  or  demonstrated  to  a  higher  de- 
gree the  possession  of  the  qualities  which  fit  a  man  to 
render  valuable  services  to  the  country  as  major-gen- 
eral. 

"  'Will  you  permit  me  to  add  an  observation  upon 
the  principle  which  sound  policy  requires  the  President 
to  follow  in  making  appointments  to  general  office  ? 

"  The  law  which  recognizes  seniority  alone  as  the 
[212] 


THE  RATHBONE  CASE 

title  to  promotion  up  to  the  grade  of  colonal  abandons 
that  rule  when  it  deals  with  general  officers  and  im- 
poses upon  the  President  the  duty  of  selecting  the  best 
men  for  generals  without  expressing  any  limitation 
upon  the  class  from  which  he  is  to  make  the  selection. 
When  such  a  selection  is  to  be  made,  two  different  con- 
siderations always  present  themselves  to  the  appointing 
mind.  One  is  the  desire  to  reward  long  and  meri- 
torious service ;  the  other  is  the  duty  to  secure  the  best 
possible  man.  ...  It  frequently  happens  that  these 
two  considerations  do  not  coincide  in  pointing 
towards  the  same  man.  .  .  .  Public  discussion  of 
promotions  to  general  office  usually  proceeds  upon 
the  view  that  promotion  is  to  be  considered  only 
as  a  reward,  but  grateful  as  it  is  to  reward  past 
services  and  important  as  it  is  that  they  should  be 
rewarded,  I  can  not  doubt  that  the  highest  duty  of 
the  appointing  power,  which  is  responsible  for  the 
future  efficiency  of  the  Army,  is  to  secure  the  man  of 
exceptional  capacity.  Where  these  two  considerations 
point  to  the  same  man,  as  they  sometimes  do,  the 
course  is  plain.  Where  they  do  not  point  to  the  same 
man  it  seems  judicious  to  fairly  divide  the  appoint- 
ments to  general  office,  making  a  part  primarily  with 
a  view  to  reward  and  a  part  primarily  with  a  view  to 
future  service.  I  think  both  considerations  unite  in 
this  case. 

"  These  facts  in  General  Wood's  record  and  these 
views  of  public  policy  were  the  reasons  which  led  Pres- 
ident McKinley  to  select  General  Wood  for  brigadier- 
general  of  the  Regular  Army  in  preference  to  many 
officers  of  higher  regular  rank  and  to  appoint  him  to 
that  office  upon  the  nomination  which  you  confirmed 

[213] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

three  years  ago  next  February.  The  present  nomina- 
tion is  in  the  regular  order  of  seniority  according  to 
the  rank  then  established  by  the  action  of  the  President 
and  Senate  and  indicates  that  the  President  sees  no 
reason  for  reversing  or  departing  from  the  conclusion 
then  reached. 

,      "  'Very  truly  yours, 

"  'Elihu  Root, 
"  'Secretary  of  War/ 

".  .  .  There  seems  to  be  an  opinion  widely  en- 
tertained," continues  the  report,  "that  General 
Wood  is  now  by  this  appointment  being  'jumped' 
over  other  officers  senior  to  him  in  rank  and  of 
longer  and  more  important  service.  Such  is  not 
the  case.  General  Sumner  and  General  Wood 
were,  when  this  nomination  was  made,  the  rank- 
ing brigadier-generals  of  the  Army.  Both  were 
at  the  same  time  nominated,  to  fill  the  two  vacan- 
cies then  occurring,  to  be  major-generals.  Gen- 
eral Sumner  has  been  confirmed.  Only  one  va- 
cancy in  the  rank  of  major-general  remains,  and 
that  is  the  one  to  which  General  Wood  has  been 
appointed. 

"It  would  seem  to  be  enough,  in  view  of  his 
good  record,  to  justify  the  President  in  giving 
him  this  appointment,  that  he  is  now  the  ranking 
brigadier-general,  and  naturally  the  first  man  to 
be  considered  of  the  whole  Army  in  connection 
with  such  an  appointment.  .  .  . 

"If,  therefore,  the  question  of  determining  who 
shall  have  this  appointment  must  be  confined,  as 

[214] 


THE  RATHBONE  CASE 

it  is,  to  the  15  brigadier-generals,  a  mere  glance 
at  their  respective  records  will  show  that,  while 
all  are  apparently  capable  and  efficient  officers, 
not  one  of  them  has  a  better  claim,  by  reason  of 
his  past  record  and  experience  as  a  commander, 
than  has  General  Wood;  and,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  committee,  no  one  has,  in  view  of  his  present 
rank,  equal  claim  to  him  on  the  ground  of  merit, 
measured  by  the  considerations  suggested.  .  .  . 

"For  the  reasons  stated,  the  undersigned  joined 
with  the  committee  recommending  confirmation. 

"Respectfully  submitted. 

"J.  B.  Foraker." 


[215] 


CHAPTER  XIII 

GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

When  the  United  States  took  over  the  Philip- 
pines, the  Department  of  Mindanao,  the  Moro 
Province,  was  considered  the  most  dangerous 
and  difficult  post  in  the  Philippines.  It  included 
the  Island  of  that  name  containing  16,000  square 
miles,  and  all  of  the  islands  south  of  it  as  far 
as  the  British  possession  of  Borneo. 

The  Moros  were  bloodthirsty,  polygamous, 
Mohammedan  savages,  living  in  the  almost  in- 
accessible fastnesses  of  its  tropical,  fever-in- 
fected jungles.  They  would  not  accept  civiliza- 
tion for  themselves,  nor  allow  their  neighbors 
who  did  accept  it  to  live  in  peace ;  frequently  they 
refused  to  let  them  live  at  all.  The  chiefs  of  the 
various  clans  were  jealous  and  suspicious  of  one 
another  and  carried  on  inter-clan  and  inter-fam- 
ily feuds,  some  of  which  had  endured  for  cen- 
turies. They  usually  postponed  these  feuds, 
however,  when  they  wanted  to  attack  any  invader 
on  their  territory  or  to  combine  for  forays 
against  the  Christian  tribes  along  the  coast  lines. 

It  had  been  their  custom  to  perpetrate  sudden 
raids  of  a  most  frightful  nature  upon  the  villages 

[216] 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

of  pastoral  Christian  natives  until  the  latter  were 
almost  exterminated.  They  would  surround 
an  unsuspecting  village,  assault  it  with  the  cold 
steel,  pillage  and  burn  the  huts,  slay  or  crucify 
all  the  men  and  carry  off  the  women  into  a  slav- 
ery from  which  there  was  no  hope  of  return. 
Their  piracies  extended  as  far  as  the  Celebes 
Islands,  hundreds  of  miles  from  Mindanao,  off 
the  north  coast  of  Luzon,  and  their  slave-hunts 
to  points  beyond  Manila. 

They  were  fierce  fighters,  nourishing  a  bitter 
fanatical  hatred  of  all  whites  and  all  Christians. 
They  knew  every  path,  cliff  and  gorge  in  their 
wild  jungle  home,  and  how  to  use  them  to  the 
best  advantage  in  preparing  ambushes.  The 
Spaniards  had  found  them  equally  proof  against 
European  troops,  or  against  the  gentler  methods 
of  civilization.  Spain  had  never  been  able  to 
subdue  them,  although  her  Governors  and  Cap- 
tain-Generals had  earnestly  struggled  to  do  so 
during  three  centuries  and  a  half.  Therefore, 
Spain's  policy  had  gradually  degenerated  into  one 
of  bad-tempered  neglect. 

After  the  Americans  took  over  the  Islands, 
there  had  been  much  fighting  in  Mindanao  be- 
tween the  natives  and  the  United  States  troops, 
in  which  the  Moros  had  usually  come  off  second 
best.  Captains  McNair,  Pershing  and  Helmick 
had  criss-crossed  the  country  with  strong  offen- 
sive parties,  falling  into  ambushes  and  fighting 
their  way  out  again,  laying  ambushes  of  their 

[217] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

own,  or  capturing  and  destroying  Moro  strong- 
holds. While  this  fighting  had  not  brought  about 
real  submission  from  a  single  sultan  or  dato,  it 
had  at  least  convinced  the  natives  that  American 
troops  were  much  more  dangerous  opponents 
than  their  predecessors,  the  Spaniards. 

On  account  of  these  insurgents,  our  army  was 
forced  to  maintain  itself  in  a  state  of  constant 
hostility,  without  attempting  to  set  up  among  the 
natives  any  form  of  civil  government.  No  real 
progress  had  so  far  been  made  in  establishing 
order,  because  the  American  leaders  operating 
against  the  Moros  were  not  of  sufficient  caliber 
to  dominate  the  situation,  which  could  not  be 
handled  by  military  measures  alone,  and  required 
an  administrator  rather  than  a  soldier. 

The  problems  to  be  faced  were  so  complex 
that  President  Roosevelt  was  in  a  quandary  as  to 
whom  he  should  assign  as  governor  of  Mindanao. 

One  day,  soon  after  General  Wood  had  re- 
turned from  Cuba,  he  was  in  Washington  in  con- 
ference with  President  Roosevelt,  when  the  lat- 
ter spoke  of  his  worry  over  the  problem  of  the 
Moro  Province. 

"I  should  like  to  go  out  there,"  said  Wood. 

"Bully,"  exclaimed  Roosevelt,  "nothing  could 
be  better!  I  hadn't  considered  you  because  you 
have  just  come  back  from  five  years'  service  in 
the  tropics,  and  it  hardly  seemed  fair  to  start  you 
off  again." 

Roosevelt  made  Wrood  not  only  Military  Com- 

[218] 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

mander  of  Mindanao,  but  Civil  Governor  as  well. 
His  power  was  thus  complete  and  absolute.  He 
was  law-maker,  chief  executive,  judge,  chief  of 
police  and  executioner.  Strong"  medicine  was 
needed  for  a  radical  disease.  President  Roose- 
velt said  to  him  in  effect: — "Your  authority  is 
absolute.  The  military  forces  necessary  to  back 
up  your  decisions  are  under  your  direct  orders. 
We  want  results.  The  blame  or  credit  for  the 
results  you  obtain  will  all  be  yours." 

General  Wood  went  to  the  Philippines  by  way 
of  the  Suez  Canal,  stopping  in  Egypt  to  make  a 
study  of  Lord  Cromer's  methods  of  government; 
he  also  visited  India,  Ceylon,  Java  and  the  Straits 
Settlements,  that  he  might  before  attacking  his 
own  problems  in  the  Philippines  be  primed  with 
all  possible  fresh  impressions  of  successful  co- 
lonial administration,  gained  both  from  the  Brit- 
ish and  the  Dutch.  Thus  he  let  slip  no  oppor- 
tunity of  adding  to  the  sum  of  his  own  knowl- 
edge which  he  had  acquired  while  governor  at 
Santiago  and  in  Cuba. 

He  was  not  satisfied  with  even  this  ample 
preparation  for  his  approaching  responsibilities, 
but  collected  and  carefully  read  a  library  of  sev- 
eral hundred  volumes  on  various  phases  of  Co- 
lonial administration.  After  his  arrival  in  the 
Philippines,  a  visitor  who  saw  these  books,  which 
covered  three  walls  of  the  office,  said  to  Wood : — 
"This  is  certainly  a  complete  collection,  but  when 
do  you  expect  to  find  time  to  read  it  all  ?"   "Read 

[219] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

it  all?"  replied  Wood;  "I've  already  read  every 
book  and  they  have  helped  me  immensely." 

This  intense  study  before  undertaking  any  new 
task  has  been  characteristic  of  Wood  all  his  life, 
and  in  it  may  be  found  the  root  of  the  success 
with  which  he  has  met  all  his  appointments.  That 
he  was  always  ready  for  each  duty  which  faced 
him  was  due  not  to  accident  but  to  the  most  care- 
ful and  painstaking  foresight. 

Upon  his  arrival  in  the  Philippines,  and  before 
proceeding  to  his  post  in  Mindanao,  General 
Wood  spent  ten  days  in  Manila  conferring  with 
Governor  Taft,  and  with  General  Davis  whom  he 
was  to  succeed  in  command.  He  also  studied  all 
available  records  relative  to  Mindanao. 

In  going  to  the  Moro  Province  for  duty  in  the 
field  with  the  regular  army,  Leonard  Wood  had  to 
contend  not  only  with  a  tropical  climate  and  with 
exceedingly  difficult  military  and  administrative 
problems,  but  he  also  faced  antagonism  from  the 
subordinates  he  was  about  to  command. 

He  was  met  by  that  singular  and  well-known 
hostility  which  the  regular  officer  of  the  United 
States  Army  sometimes  shows  towards  the  of- 
ficer from  civil  life,  be  he  a  National  Guardsman, 
a  Reserve  Officer,  or  a  Regular  recently  appoint- 
ed. Then,  as  now,  this  prejudice  was  not  based 
upon  any  question  of  comparative  efficiency,  nor 
upon  any  estimate  of  capability  for  service  to  our 
country,  but  simply  on  professional  jealousy  of 

[220] 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

the  narrowest  sort — a  surprised  jealousy  which 
bitterly  resents  any  outsider  who  shows  unex- 
pected ability  in  troop-leading,  as  Wood  had 
done  both  in  the  Geronimo  Campaign  and  during 
the  Spanish  War. 

This  feeling  towards  General  Wood  among  the 
officers  in  the  Philippines  was  similar  to  that  held 
at  the  same  epoch  by  officers  in  the  United  States 
towards  General  Funston.  The  officers  in  the 
Philippines  knew  little  of  General  Wood's  work 
in  Cuba  and  those  in  the  United  States  were  ig- 
norant of  Funston's  feats  in  the  Philippines.  Nei- 
ther general  had  graduated  from  West  Point  and 
neither  came  from  the  old  line  of  the  Army. 

This  antagonism  was  so  contagious  that  it  af- 
fected even  the  most  broad-minded  and  capable 
of  the  regulars.  It  was  strongest  among  the  old- 
time  officers,  but  the  younger  officers  soon  fol- 
lowed their  lead.  Thus  Wood  had  not  only  to 
deal  with  the  rebellious  Moros,  but  also  to  over- 
come this  opposition  of  his  own  countrymen. 

Very  soon  after  he  had  settled  down  to  work, 
however,  the  younger  men  began  to  swear  by 
him.  They  soon  appreciated  that  he  achieved  as- 
tonishing results  and  did  so  quickly.  They  found 
he  was  loyal  to  his  subordinates,  always  consid- 
erate of  them,  and  ever  willing  to  delegate  re- 
sponsibility and  generously  to  judge  them  by  the 
results  they  obtained. 

Soon  even  the  older  men  began  to  like  and  ad- 
mire him. 

[221] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

"Before  I  met  General  Wood  his  very  name 
stirred  indignation  in  me,"  said  Colonel  Duncan, 
who  commanded  in  the  Bud  Dajo  battle.  "I 
couldn't  help  feeling  that  the  promotion  of  a 
mere  doctor  over  the  heads  of  so  many  experi- 
enced and  deserving  officers  was  an  outrage  on 
the  service.  The  bill  which  made  me  a  Colonel 
made  him  a  Major-General,  yet  I  was  so  bit- 
terly opposed  to  his  promotion  that  I  was  will- 
ing to  see  the  bill  defeated  even  if  I  thereby  lost 
my  Colonelcy.  Afterwards  when  I  served  un- 
der him  in  the  Philippines,  I  found  him  to  be  one 
of  the  biggest  men  I  had  ever  come  in  contact 
with,  a  magnificent  officer  with  a  remarkably 
broad  way  of  looking  at  and  dealing  with  things. 
He  is  a  great  soldier."  * 

Governor  Wood  sailed  from  Manila  to 
Mindanao  in  a  gunboat,  and  the  day  he  arrived 
at  the  Capital  of  the  Moro  Provinces  he  said  to 
his  staff: — "Gentlemen,  we  have  left  no  stone  un- 
turned in  our  efforts  to  locate  and  study  docu- 
ments bearing  on  the  problems  before  us.  We 
have  also  consulted  all  the  officials  who  have 
pertinent  experience,  but  this  knowledge  will  be 
of  small  value  until  we  have  verified  and  co- 
ordinated it  by  actual  observation  in  the  field. 
Therefore,  we  leave  at  six  o'clock  to-morrow 
morning  on  a  trip  which  may  last  six  weeks  or 
even  longer,  during  which  time  we  will  study  the 

*By  James  Crzdman— Pearson's— April,  1909. 
[222] 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

country  and  talk  with  as  many  of  the  native 
chiefs  as  can  be  persuaded  to  meet  us." 

Next  day  his  party  plunged  into  the  jungle, 
carrying  only  their  horse  equipment,  and  disap- 
peared for  more  than  a  month ;  marching  through 
wet  jungles,  crossing  high  volcanic  mountain 
ranges,  fording  rapid  rivers  or  ferrying  across 
inland  lakes  in  dug-out  canoes. 

Among  the  natives,  tales  of  the  "Great  White 
Sultan"  ran  before  him,  and  chiefs  and  datos 
and  rajahs  and  sultans  came  out  to  meet  him, 
partly  from  cunning  curiosity  and  partly  to  meas- 
ure their  wits  against  his.  They  came  to  meet 
him  accompanied  by  their  full  retinues; — Prime 
Ministers,  Secretaries  of  War,  umbrella  bearers, 
body-guards  and  personal  attendants. 

In  these  conferences  the  General  tried  to  im- 
press the  Sultans  with  the  fact  that  while 
America  gave  them  certain  privileges,  and  a 
fixed  monthly  stipend  for  themselves  and  many 
of  their  followers,  she  also  imposed  upon  them 
certain  obligations  as,  for  instance,  that  of  keep- 
ing order. 

Before  Governor  Wood  returned  to  his  head- 
quarters, he  had  not  only  met  every  native  chief 
of  importance,  and  visited  all  the  American  mili- 
tary posts  under  his  command,  but  had  found 
time  to  cross  a  hundred  miles  of  ocean  and  pay 
a  flying  visit  to  Borneo,  where  the  administrative 
problems  faced  by  the  British  were  in  many  ways 

[223] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

similar  to  his  own,  and  where  he  obtained  many 
valuable  pointers  from  the  Governor. 

When  his  long  trip  was  over  and,  General 
Wood  had  returned  to  his  headquarters,  he  sat 
down  quietly  with  his  staff  to  work  out  a  scheme 
of  government  for  the  Islands. 

The  plan  which  he  eventually  adopted  was  the 
result  of  his  painstaking  study  of  Colonial  ad- 
ministration, checked  by  the  first-hand  knowl- 
edge acquired  during  his  trip  and  by  his  many 
conferences  with  the  Moro  Sultan  who  had  told 
him  much  of  value  concerning  their  beliefs, 
wishes  and  prejudices,  all  of  which  he  wisely  took 
into  consideration  and  respected,  wherever  it 
did  not  conflict  with  his  general  plan  of  govern- 
ment. 

He  had  found  that  there  were  in  the  Moro 
Provinces  more  than  two  score  different  tribes, 
all  of  them  Mohammedans  or  pagans,  except  in 
a  few  seacoast  towns,  where  the  population  was 
divided  in  religious  allegiance  between  Christian- 
ity and  Confucianism. 

Each  religion  had  within  itself  many  different 
sects,  and  in  almost  every  case  the  tribal  chief 
was  closely  associated  with  the  tribe's  particular 
religion,  so  that  religious  tenets  were  inex- 
tricably entangled  with  matters  pertaining  to 
politics  and  trade,  polygamy  and  slavery,  war- 
fare and  social  relations.  The  situation  was, 
therefore,  infinitely  perplexing. 

Inter-clan  murders  were  usually  condoned 
[224] 


"before  axd  after  taking" 

members  of  the  philippine  native  constabulary 

224] 


A  MOHAMMEDAN   MORO   AND   HIS   FAMILY 


THE   PRINCESSA   OF   COTABATO   AND 
THE  SULTAN  OF  MAOINDANAO 


A   MORO  BOLOMAN 


A  SEA   MORO   PIRATE   CHIEFTAIX 


A  RUINED  SPANISH  CHURCH  IX   MINDANAO 


GOVERNOR 
WOOD 


IN   THE   PHILIPPINES 


A  TYPICAL  VILLAGE  STREET  IN  THE   MORO  PROVINCE 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

and  went  unpunished  by  any  law;  even  murders 
committed  upon  fellow  clansmen  were  never  ade- 
quately punished.  The  penalty  for  killing  a 
neighbor  was  limited  to  a  fine  of  fifty  dollars,  a 
woman's  life  cost  twenty-five,  and  the  murder  of 
a  slave  could  be  atoned  for  by  twelve  dollars 
given  to  the  owner.  The  payment  of  these  speci- 
fied sums  constituted  full  legal  satisfaction  for 
murder,  no  matter  how  wanton  or  cold-blooded. 
An  idea  of  the  comparative  insignificance  of 
these  amounts  may  be  gained  from  the  fact  that 
stealing  a  buffalo  was  punishable  by  a  fine  of 
forty-five  dollars,  while  the  market  value  of  a  re- 
peating rifle  was  a  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  datos  and  sultans  claimed  absolute  right 
of  life  and  death  over  all  their  subjects,  without 
trial  or  appeal  to  higher  authority.  Many  of 
them  were  hereditary  chiefs  whose  titles  dated 
back  for  centuries  so  that  their  rule  was  support- 
ed by  the  Oriental  devotion  and  respect  for 
precedent  and  heredity. 

Governor  Wood  divided  Mindanao  into  five 
districts,  Jolo,  Davao,  Lanao,  Zamboanga  and 
Cotabato  and  made  an  American  officer  governor 
of  each  one.  These  districts  were  subdivided 
into  wards,  one  ward  for  each  tribe.  The  ruling 
dato  or  sultan  of  the  tribe  was  made  Headman 
of  the  ward,  on  probation,  in  order  as  far  as 
possible  to  enlist  his  cooperation  under  the  new 
regime  and  give  him  a  fair  chance  to  make  good, 
no  matter  how  bad  his  previous  reputation  had 

[225] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

been  nor  how  many  raids  or  revolts  he  had  in  the 
past  perpetrated. 

Governor  Wood  himself  dealt  directly  with  the 
five  American  district  governors,  and  they  in 
turn  dealt  with  the  Headmen.  Thus  the  native 
population  had  no  direct  official  contact  with  the 
Americans,  but  continued  to  be  ruled  by  their 
native  chiefs. 

None  of  the  dato's  legitimate  functions  were 
taken  from  him  when  he  was  appointed  Head- 
man; in  fact,  he  became  far  more  powerful  than 
he  had  been  before,  for,  provided  he  upheld  the 
law,  he  was  in  his  turn  upheld  by  his  district 
governor  and  by  Governor  Wood,  backed  by  all 
the  armed  resources  of  the  United  States. 

If  any  one  of  the  new  Headmen  did  not  main- 
tain order  or  failed  in  any  other  way  to  obtain 
the  desired  results,  he  was  reprimanded.  If  the 
reprimand  proved  ineffective,  he  was  then  super- 
seded by  a  new  Headman.  If  he  resisted  re- 
moval, the  District  Governor  sent  troops  to  ef- 
fect it.  If  he  tried  to  evade  capture  he  was  re- 
lentlessly pursued  until  he  could  be  run  down 
and  brought  to  book.  If  between  the  time  of  his 
removal  and  capture  he  led  any  revolts  which 
resulted  in  casualties  or  other  damage,  he  was 
held  personally  responsible  and  brought  to  trial. 
If  when  surrounded  he  resisted  capture,  he  was 
killed. 

When  a  tribe  revolted,  the  Headman  alone  was 
punished,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  capture 

[226J 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

him  without  more  righting  than  was  positively 
necessary.  Once  he  was  eliminated  as  ruler,  the 
tribe  was  forgiven,  on  the  theory  that  the  Head- 
man was  responsible  for  their  misconduct,  and 
a  new  Headman  was  then  appointed. 

Under  the  old  tribal  system,  the  priests  had 
also  acted  as  judges ;  Wood  made  them  the  tribal 
judges  under  the  supervision  of  the  Headman, 
and  in  all  minor  cases  their  sentences  were  final. 
In  major  cases  and  in  cases  between  a  tribesman 
and  an  outsider,  an  appeal  to  the  district  court 
was  allowed. 

One ,  of  the  chieftains  whom  the  Governor 
made  Headman  was  the  Sultan  of  Sulu,  who  had 
long  sustained  a  bad  record,  both  under  Spanish 
rule  and  since  the  American  occupation.  The 
Sultans  of  Sulu  had  for  generations  not  only  mis- 
governed their  own  people  but  had,  by  their 
piracy  on  the  sea  and  their  slave-raids  on  land, 
kept  their  part  of  the  Archipelago  in  constant 
turmoil. 

In  1899  General  Bates  had  concluded  by  arbi- 
tration an  agreement  with  the  Sultan,  by  which 
the  latter  was  to  govern  his  province  and  keep 
order.  The  Sultan  gladly  signed  the  agreement, 
which  he  had  no  intention  of  keeping,  because  he 
thought  it  meant  that  the  Americans  would  leave 
him  alone,  while  he  could  continue  to  do  exactly 
as  he  despotically  pleased.  If  there  was  trouble 
he  imagined  he  had  only  to  write  a  note  or  make 
an  apology. 

[227] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Everything  worked  out  exactly  as  he  had  cal- 
culated until  Wood  became  Governor.  Up  to 
that  time  he  had  cynically  disregarded  all  parts 
of  the  treaty  which  were  in  any  way  hampering 
to  him,  and  when  called  upon  for  explanations 
he  made  evasive  answers. 

As  soon  as  Wood  was  certain  of  the  situation, 
he  sent  a  force  under  Colonel  Scott  and  Captain 
Howland  to  visit  the  Sultan.  The  expedition 
was  not  a  punitative  one,  it  was  simply  instruct- 
ed to  carry  to  the  Sultan  an  invitation  to  come 
and  confer  with  Governor  Wood  near  Maibun, 
which  was  one  of  the  Sultan's  own  towns. 

It  developed  that  the  Sultan  had  gone  to  Singa- 
pore on  a  visit,  to  dispose  of  pearls,  which  were 
his  principal  source  of  revenue.  His  method  of 
collecting  this  revenue  was  unique.  Every  pearl 
fisherman  was  required,  on  penalty  of  death,  to 
bring  all  his  pearls  to  the  Sultan,  who  put  them 
through  a  sieve.  All  the  pearls  which  stuck  be- 
longed to  the  Sultan;  those  which  fell  through 
were  returned  to  the  poor  fisherman. 

During  the  Sultan's  absence  in  Singapore  the 
heir  apparent,  known  as  the  Rajah  Mudah,  was 
ruling  in  his  stead. 

Colonel  Scott  had  been  ordered  by  General 
Wood  to  see  that  the  Sultan  accepted  his  invita- 
tion; and  no  one  who  has  ever  worked  under 
Wood  has  dared  fail  to  bring  back  results.  In  the 
absence  of  the  Sultan  it  was  evident  that  the 

[228] 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

Rajah  Mudah  was  the  only  person  who  could 
possibly  serve  as  "results." 

Colonel  Scott,  therefore,  said  to  the  deputy 
chief  that  in  view  of  the  Sultan's  absence,  he  had 
better  accept  the  invitation. 

The  Rajah  Mudah  regretted  that  he  had  a  bad 
boil,  which  was  so  painful  that  traveling  was  for 
him  out  of  the  question. 

Colonel  Scott  was  at  once  all  sympathy.  "I 
have  had  boils  myself,"  he  said,  "and  they  were 
Hades.  Americans  are  not  infrequently  afflicted 
with  them  but  have  made  marvelous  discoveries 
in  their  quick  cure.  My  hospital  orderly  happens, 
very  fortunately  for  you,  to  be  an  expert  boil- 
healer." 

The  hospital  orderly  was  brought  forward. 
The  Rajah  was  so  reluctant  to  show  his  boil  that 
it  became  fairly  evident  it  had  no  existence  except 
in  his  own  imagination. 

Colonel  Scott  then  signaled  to  Captain  How- 
land,  who  marched  his  company  into  the  street 
in  front  of  the  Rajah's  palace,  and  squads-righted 
them  into  line  facing  the  door.  The  Moro  bolo- 
men  of  the  village  came  out  of  their  houses  and 
stood  alert,  awaiting  developments.  Colonel 
Scott  with  the  utmost  courtesy  pointed  to  the 
company  and  said  to  the  heir  apparent : — "This 
is  the  Guard  of  Honor  sent  by  the  Great  White 
Sultan  to  escort  you  to  his  presence." 

The  Rajah  Mudah  had,  during  the  past  two  or 
three  years,  learned  that  a  battle  with  American 

[229] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

infantry  was  a  serious  affair,  and  realized  that 
although  he  might  eventually  annihilate  Captain 
Howland's  company,  it  would  be  at  a  cost  of  hun- 
dreds of  Moros  lives.  Then,  too,  it  is  so  messy 
to  fight  a  battle  in  one's  own  front  yard.  All 
things  considered,  the  Rajah  Mudah  decided  to 
reconsider  his  refusal.  He  announced  that  per- 
haps a  ride  in  the  open  would  help  his  malady. 

General  Wood  received  him  with  all  possible 
ceremony ;  troops  were  turned  out  on  parade,  and 
the  camp  was  made  ready  for  inspection.  The 
Rajah  Mudah  was  given  an  exhibition  of  target 
practice  and  watched  the  American  soldiers  con- 
sistently hit  a  target  the  size  of  a  man  at  a  third 
of  a  mile  off.  He  saw  the  mountain  guns  taken 
to  pieces  and  loaded  on  a  string  of  mules  which 
could  penetrate  the  roughest  mountain  fast- 
nesses. Then  he  saw  the  guns  reassembled  and 
made  ready  for  action  in  less  than  a  minute.  He 
was  much  impressed  by  the  machine  guns,  one 
of  which  seemed  able  to  fire  as  many  bullets  as 
a  whole  company  of  infantry.  As  a  result  of  this 
exhibition  he  decided  that  diplomacy  would  be 
the  best  weapon  to  use  with  the  Great  White 
Sultan. 

There  followed  a  very  formal  official  lunch- 
eon with  many  courses,  and  speeches,  and  ad- 
dresses of  welcome;  the  Rajah  in  the  seat  of 
honor  at  Governor  Wood's  right  hand. 

Afterwards  the  Governor  conferred  alone 
with  him;   and  confirmed   the   Rajah   Mudah's 

[230] 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

brother  as  Headman  of  Sulu.  He  also  explained 
with  exactitude  what  the  Great  White  Sultan 
expected  of  a  Headman  and  also  just  what  would 
happen  to  him  if  he  failed  to  produce  satisfactory 
results. 

Thus  the  Governor  organized  Mindanao,  set- 
ting natives  to  rule  the  land  and  parceling  out 
the  country  among  them  until  no  corner  was  left 
without  its  little  chief.  Each  one  was  supreme 
in  his  own  bailiwick  but  was  instructed  to  re- 
spect the  authority  of  neighboring  chiefs.  Each 
one  was  in  explicit  terms  told  exactly  what  he 
could  not  do  and  what  he  was  expected  to 
accomplish.  He  was  warned  that  he  would 
be  judged  solely  by  results  and  that  excuses,  apol- 
ogies and  explanations  would  have  no  value.  If 
he  would  not  or  could  not  give  satisfaction  he 
would  be  removed,  by  force  of  arms  if  necessary, 
and  some  one  else  would  be  set  to  rule  in  his 
place. 

General  Wood  at  first  concentrated  most  of  his 
time  and  attention  on  building  up  his  general  sys- 
tem of  government  and  making  it  function 
smoothly.  He  carefully  selected  his  five  Ameri- 
can district  governors  and  made  certain  that 
they  were  drilled  to  their  tasks.  Through  them, 
he  taught  the  ex-sultans  and  the  priests  the  de- 
tails of  their  new  duties  as  Headmen  and  judges. 
Until  this  had  been  accomplished  he  postponed 
initiating  certain  other  important  reforms  which 
he  had  in  mind  and  which  he  knew  would  meet 

l>3i] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

with  the  strongest  opposition.  The  most  in- 
portant  of  these  contemplated  attacks  was 
against  polygamy  and  slavery,  which  had  been  a 
fundamental  part  of  Moro  life  from  time  im- 
memorial. 

He  supervised  the  organization  of  schools  and 
the  formation  of  the  district  courts,  which  were 
the  courts  of  appeals,  and  the  courts  for  the  trial 
of  inter-tribal  disputes.  He  relentlessly  punished 
murderers,  head-hunters  and  feudists.  He  also 
improved  sanitary  conditions. 

Incidentally,  many  curious  disputes  were 
brought  to  him  to  be  settled.  For  instance,  a 
bitter  feud  was  raging  between  an  inland  Moro 
tribe,  and  the  Samals  or  sea  Moros  who  dwelt  in 
stilted  villages,  built  over  the  water  in  the  tidal 
marshes  of  the  coast  and  who  lived  by  fishing 
and  piracy.  The  cause  of  the  strife  was  Turtle 
Eggs  versus  Turtles.  The  inland  Moros  ate  tur- 
tle eggs,  which  are  laid  in  the  hot  sand  above 
tide-water,  but  not  the  turtles;  while  the  sea 
Moros,  on  their  part,  ate  the  turtles  but  not  their 
eggs. 

The  sea  Moros  were  in  the  habit  of  killing  the 
turtles  when  they  came  ashore  before  they  had 
laid  their  eggs,  thus  depriving  the  inland  Moros 
of  their  most  prized  delicacy;  while  the  sea  men 
maintained  that  the  inland  Moros,  by  eating  up 
so  many  of  the  eggs,  were  causing  a  rapid  de- 
crease in  the  supply  of  turtles. 

Governor   Wood   ruled  that  the   sea   Moros 

[232] 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

might  kill  the  turtles  at  sea  and  in  the  white 
water  of  the  surf,  but  that  they  must  not  molest 
them  on  land  or  on  the  wet  sands  where  the  tides 
washed  smoothly. 

The  Americans  had  promulgated  a  ruling 
against  polygamy  before  Wood  became  Gover- 
nor, and  when  his  general  system  of  administra- 
tion was  in  fair  working  order,  he  began  strictly 
to  enforce  this  law,  acting  as  usual  through  the 
five  district  governors  and  the  various  Moro 
Headmen.  Violent  opposition  immediately  de- 
veloped. No  man  knows  better  than  Wood  how 
to  rescue  a  difficult  situation  by  the  saving  grace 
of  a  sense  of  humor,  and  this  was  liberally  applied 
in  his  handling  of  this  problem.  A  savage  Mo- 
hammedan Chieftan  came  to  him  to  plead  against 
his  ruling  that  polygamy  must  cease. 

The  Chieftan,  sitting  cross-legged  before  Gov- 
ernor Wood,  began : — "The  prophet  has  said  that 
a  man  may  have  many  wives.  The  Koran,  the 
Bible  of  the  Mohammedans,  so  ordains  it." 

Wood's  strong  face  widened  out  into  an  ag- 
gressively friendly  grin  as  he  replied,  "Quite 
true,  I  have  read  it  there  myself."  The  savage 
Chieftain  looked  up  with  a  pleased  smile  at  this 
unexpected  knowledge  of  the  Koran.  "But," 
continued  Wood,  "the  Prophet  has  also  said  that 
a  wise  man  will  be  content  with  one.  I  am  cer- 
tain that  you  are  a  wise  man,  and  therefore  will 
not  oppose  my  ruling  against  polygamy,  which  I 
shall  continue  to  enforce." 

[233] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Early  in  his  governorship  he  took  the  first  ac- 
tive step  towards  the  abolition  of  slavery,  al- 
though at  the  time  none  of  the  Moros  appreciated 
its  true  significance. 

The  Spaniards  had  tried  for  several  centuries 
to  suppress  slavery  by  issuing  laws  forbidding  it, 
and  then  waging  war  on  those  who  offended 
against  their  orders.  This  method  had  always 
been  a  signal  failure  because  it  lacked  native  co- 
operation, without  which  slaves  could  always  be 
concealed.  Moreover,  the  Koran  specifically  per- 
mitted and  encouraged  the  enslavement  of  non- 
Moslems. 

The  Moros  had  at  first  captured  Christians  for 
slaves,  not  only  raiding  the  coast  towns,  but  mak- 
ing slave-hunting  expeditions  to  neighboring  isl- 
ands for  hundreds  of  miles  in  all  directions. 
When,  for  any  reason,  Christian  slaves  were  not 
available,  the  Moros  were  not  above  enslaving 
true  believers  from  neighboring  clans. 

Wood's  first  step  was  to  protect  the  coast  vil- 
lages with  small  American  garrisons.  This  made 
slave-raiding  against  these  settlements  too  pre- 
carious to  be  profitable.  Then,  by  arrangement 
with  the  Navy,  the  gun-boat  patrols  among  the 
Islands  were  strengthened  and  coordinated  to  an 
extent  which  made  piracy  and  slave  raids  to 
neighboring  Archipelagos  practically  impossible. 
All  sources  of  supply  for  Christian  slaves  were 
thus  cut  off  from  the  Moros,  leaving  them  no 
choice  but  to  do  without  new  slaves,  or  to  enslave 

[234] 


GOVERNOR  OF  THE  MORO  PROVINCE 

fellow  Mohammedans.  Still  worse  for  them 
Christian  slaves  were,  by  Wood's  orders,  rescued 
and  liberated  whenever  this  was  possible  without 
stirring  up  a  rebellion,  which  he  wished  to  avoid 
until  he  was  prepared  to  deal  with  it  effectively. 

Gradually  the  Moros  became  more  and  more 
in  need  of  new  slaves,  and  in  order  to  secure  them 
indulged  with  increasing  frequency  in  the  en- 
slavement of  their  co-religionists. 

Then,  when  the  stage  was  set,  Wood  began 
his  campaign  for  the  absolute  suppression  of  slav- 
ery, the  last  and  most  difficult  step  in  his  organi- 
zation of  Mindanao.  He  called  before  him  the 
various  Headmen.  Among  the  first  to  appear 
before  Wood  to  defend  the  practice  of  slavery 
was  Hadji  Butu,  High  Priest  and  Chief  Judge 
to  the  ex-sultan  and  new  Headman  of  Sulu.  He 
stated  that  the  Americans  had  by  solemn  treaty 
agreed  to  respect  the  religions  of  the  Filipinos, 
and  that  the  Mohammedan  religion  distinctly  en- 
couraged slaveholding. 

"That  is  true/'  said  Wood,  "the  law  of  the 
Prophet  Mohammed  authorizes  slavery,  but  the 
Kitab  of  the  Koran  forbids  the  enslavement  of 
true  believers,  does  it  not?" 

Hadji  Butu  nodded  uneasily. 

"Yet  to-day  the  majority  of  the  slaves  held  by 
your  master  are  Mohammedans." 

Hadji  Butu  nodded  again,  and  explained: 

"Before  the  days  of  the  gunboats,  we  could  go 
to  the  neighboring  islands  and  to  Cebu  and  even 

[235] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

as  far  north  as  Manila  to  get  Christians  for 
slaves,  but  after  your  gunboats  came  we  could  do 
so  no  longer  and  we  then  began  to  make  slaves 
of  our  own  people.  As  high  priest  I  disapproved, 
but  I  was  not  powerful  enough  to  put  a  stop  to 
it  without  help,  but  you,  General,  with  your  sol- 
diers, will  have  the  power  to  give  that  help.  I 
am  glad  that  you  are  going  to  stop  this  custom, 
and  I  will  aid  you." 

"I  rule  over  both  Christians  and  Moham- 
medans," said  the  Governor,  "and  the  fact  that 
I  protect  the  Christians  from  harm  is  your  best 
guaranty  that  I  will  also  protect  you.  I  am  glad 
that  you  agree  with  me  about  slavery.  Together 
we  will  suppress  it.  Thus  you  will  continue  to 
help  me  enforce  my  laws  and  I  will  help  you  make 
your  fellow-tribesmen  live  up  to  the  precepts  of 
their  religion  of  which  you  are  the  High  Priest." 


[236]' 


CHAPTER  XIV, 

DATO  ALI 

The  reorganization  of  Mindanao  proceeded 
without  concerted  opposition,  until  Wood  took 
steps  to  enforce  his  ruling  against  slavery,  with 
special  reference  to  the  capture  and  mistreat- 
ment of  women. 

Most  of  the  datos  and  sultans  had  been  diplo- 
matically induced  to  give  up  this  practice,  forbid- 
den by  the  Koran,  especially  after  they  were 
made  to  understand  that  its  continuance  was  op- 
posed not  only  by  their  own  priests,  but  also  by 
the  "Great  White  Sultan." 

But  there  were  two  or  three  datos  who  were 
proof  against  conciliation  or  arbitration,  who 
were  so  frankly  unscrupulous  that  even  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  Koran  were  to  them  of  minor  consid- 
eration. Slavery  was  one  of  their  time-honored 
institutions,  and  an  economic  basis  upon  which 
they  had  depended  for  many  centuries.  In  their 
minds  its  financial  advantages  outweighed  both 
their  reverence  for  the  Koran  and  their  respect 
for  the  fighting  ability  of  the  Americans. 

Dato  Ali  was  particularly  incensed  when 
American  expeditions  began  to  appear  in  his  vil- 

[237] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

lages  to  liberate  recently  captured  slaves  and  re- 
turn them  in  safety  to  their  homes.  He  was 
the  most  powerful  of  all  the  Moro  chieftains,  and 
his  influence  among  his  people  was  correspond- 
ingly great.  He  was  not  only  a  man  of  personal 
force,  but  was  an  hereditary  sovereign,  who 
traced  his  ancestry  by  written  records  for  nearly 
four  hundred  years,  and  by  tradition  for  a  thou- 
sand. 

With  the  single  exception  of  the  Sultan  of 
Magindanao  and  the  latter's  Princessa,  Dato  Ali 
was  of  the  bluest-blood  of  the  Moros  of  Min- 
danao. He  had  the  additional  prestige  of  success 
in  whatever  he  attempted;  and  possessed  one  of 
the  three  largest  and  most  carefully  selected 
harems  in  that  part  of  the  world;  he  also  dealt 
in  slaves  on  a  wholesale  plan,  and  was  a  daring 
and  successful  gambler. 

His  reign  over  his  people  had  always  been  one 
of  terror  for  he  never  failed  to  torture  or  kill 
a  subject  who  did  not  obey  him  implicitly.  His 
personal  prestige  was  based  upon  many  years  of 
chieftainship,  and  this,  added  to  the  hereditary 
honors  of  his  family,  made  him  seem  so  invincible 
to  the  Moros  who  lived  near  him,  that  they  never 
conceived  it  possible  to  remonstrate  much  less  to 
revolt  against  even  his  most  high-handed  acts. 

When  Governor  Wood  named  him  Headman 
of  his  tribal  district,  he  had  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment rather  grouchily,  but  nevertheless  played 
the  game  fairly  well,  until  the  ruling  against  slav- 

[238] 


DATO  ALI 

ery  was  promulgated  and  energetic  measures 
were  taken  to  enforce  it. 

This  finally  brought  him  into  open  revolt.  He 
not  only  roused  his  people,  but  exacted  help  from 
neighboring  clans,  and  defying  the  new  order  of 
things  proceeded  to  organize  a  wide-spread  rebel- 
lion. 

Many  of  the  clans,  and  even  many  of  his  own 
subjects,  had  no  desire  to  engage  in  a  war  with 
the  Americans,  whom  they  had  learned  to  respect 
as  terrible  fighters.  Most  of  them  had  nothing 
to  gain  and  much  to  lose  by  a  revolt.  The  chief- 
tains were  the  only  large  slaveholders,  so  that 
the  average  Moro  had  no  personal  interest  in 
the  perpetuation  of  slavery,  while  war  jeop- 
ardized his  life  and  his  home. 

He  nevertheless  found  himself  between  the 
devil  and  the  deep  sea,  for  he  was  forced  to 
choose  between  loyalty  to  the  Great  White  Sultan 
or  obedience  to  Dato  Ali;  either  choice  was  like- 
ly to  have  fatal  results.  Most  of  the  Moros  chose 
submission  to  Ali  simply  because  he  was  nearer 
and  his  vengeance  more  immediate.  They  cal- 
culated that  such  a  choice  had  at  least  the  ad- 
vantage of  postponing  the  evil  day  of  reckon- 
ing. Moreover,  the  Great  White  Sultan  had 
shown  leniency  in  the  past,  and  there  was  hope 
for  similar  forgiveness  in  the  future,  while  Ali 
had  always  been  pitiless. 

Ali  was  encouraged  by  a  simultaneous  revolt 
of  the  mountain  Taracas  of  Lake  Lanao,  a  race 

[239] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

of  fanatical  Mohammedans,  who  were  the  only 
tribe  which  had  never  been  subdued,  even  by  the 
Americans.  He  then  led  attacks  against  the  na- 
tives of  the  lowlands  and  against  the  tribes  who 
remained  loyal  to  the  American  administration. 
His  part  of  the  island  was  promptly  thrown  into 
tumult  and  red  war  menaced  everything  which 
had  been  accomplished  by  the  Americans  in  Min- 
danao. 

The  average  colonial  administrator  would  have 
assumed  that  the  revolt  was  spontaneous,  and 
have  waged  vigorous  warfare  against  the  tribe 
as  a  whole,  instead  of  concentrating  against  the 
guilty  chieftain.  But  Governor  Wood  was  so 
closely  in  touch  with  the  situation  and  had  so 
much  sympathy  and  understanding  for  his  dusky 
subjects,  that  he  sensed  the  truth,  and,  although 
the  revolt  eventually  affected  nearly  all  of  Min- 
danao, he  faithfully  adhered  to  his  rule  of  hold- 
ing the  Headman  and  not  the  people  responsible. 
He,  therefore,  directed  his  principal  effort 
towards  capturing  Dato  Ali  with  as  little  general 
bloodshed  as  possible. 

Meanwhile  Ali  ambushed  several  bodies  of 
American  troops  and  attacked  the  garrison  of 
Cotabato,  basing  his  operations  upon  a  fort 
which  he  constructed  in  the  swamps  of  Sirinaya, 
into  which  he  planned  to  retreat  in  case  of  Amer- 
ican successes. 

This  fort  had  been  cleverly  laid  out  by  an  ex- 
Sepoy  of  the  British  Indian  army,  whom  Ali  had 

[240] 


DATO  ALI 

persuaded  to  join  him,  and  was  constructed  after 
the  type  which  had  been  used  by  European  armies 
from  1870  to  1880.  It  had  a  perimeter  of  over 
a  thousand  meters  and  was  situated  in  the  midst 
of  a  huge  swamp  many  miles  in  extent,  impassa- 
ble except  by  a  few  narrow  trails  leading  across 
to  the  fort,  which  was  surrounded  by  an  en- 
tanglement of  pointed  bamboos  (in  lieu  of  barbed 
wire).  It  contained  twenty-one  large  old-type 
cannon,  ranging  from  three  to  five  and  one-half 
inches ;  in  addition  there  were  five  hundred  small 
portable  bronze  hand-cannon,  known  as  lantakas. 
The  garrison  consisted  of  about  twenty-five  hun- 
dred Moros,  including  many  women  and  children. 

These  details  were  reported  to  Wood  by  his  na- 
tive scouts  and  he  personally  organized  and  led 
against  the  fort  an  expedition  which  included 
several  picked  battalions  of  infantry  of  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men  each,  with  two  2 -f -inch 
mountain  guns  and  one  3-inch  field  piece. 

The  expedition  proceeded  up  the  Cotabato 
River  until  it  reached  a  point  about  twelve  miles 
from  the  fort,  there  it  disembarked  and  com- 
menced its  march  across  the  swamp. 

Almost  immediately  a  very  sluggish  marshy 
stream  about  twelve  feet  deep  and  nearly  a  mile 
wide  was  encountered.  This  was  not  navigable, 
even  for  the  smallest  boats,  being  covered  with 
"sudge"  much  like  that  encountered  by  the  ex- 
plorer Stanley  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Nile. 
Jhis  sudge  consisted  of  a  spongy,  floating  layer 

[241] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

of  intertwined  water  grasses  and  water-grass 
roots  about  two  feet  thick. 

It  was  found  that  an  infantryman,  if  he  went 
at  a  run,  could  cross  this  mat  without  sinking 
above  the  ankles,  the  sudge  giving  away  behind 
him  much  as  rubber  ice  sinks  behind  the  daring 
skater.  An  advance  guard  was  first  established 
on  the  far  bank  to  protect  the  men  en  route,  and 
then  the  work  of  transporting  the  mountain  guns 
was  started.  Their  barrels,  towed  by  runners, 
were  with  little  difficulty  rapidly  dragged  across 
on  improvised  sleds  of  bamboo;  the  ammunition 
was  taken  over  by  hand  a  round  at  a  time.  But 
the  cradles  and  trails  of  the  guns  were  so  heavy 
that  they  frequently  broke  through  the  surface. 
Whereupon  the  gunners  were  obliged  to  dive 
down  through  holes  in  the  sudge,  into  the  dark 
water  beneath  in  order  to  attach  fresh  ropes. 

After  several  days  of  arduous  progress,  com- 
plicated by  two  ambushes,  the  expedition  finally 
arrived  before  the  fort. 

Knowing  that  there  were  inside  the  Moro  fort 
many  ignorant  and  deluded  people,  who  really  had 
no  desire  to  fight  the  Americans  and  had  joined 
Ali  merely  because  they  feared  him,  Wood  was 
anxious  to  disperse  them  before  inflicting  any 
casualties.  Moreover,  he  never  forgot  his  policy 
of  punishing  the  chief  and  not  the  people. 

All  attempts  at  parleys,  however,  proved  un- 
successful, the  American  emissaries  being  fired 
upon  by  the  defenders. 

[242] 


DATO  ALI 

It  would  have  been  easy  to  surround  the  fort, 
lay  siege  to  it  and  eventually  carry  it  by  storm, 
but  this  would  not  only  have  involved  serious  loss 
of  life  to  the  American  troops,  but  would  have 
meant  the  practical  annihilation  of  all  Dato  Ali's 
misguided  Mohammedan  followers,  who  in  a  bat- 
tle with  Christians  felt  bound,  one  and  all,  to  fight 
to  the  bitter  end. 

General  Wood  disposed  his  forces  on  three 
sides  of  the  fort,  but  well  out  of  range  of  its 
guns.  He  carefully  left  open  the  fourth  side 
which  looked  towards  the  mountains. 

The  cannon  used  by  Ali's  men  were  of  old  types, 
which,  though  extremely  deadly  at  close  quarters, 
have  a  maximum  range  of  only  a  mile.  Wood 
emplaced  his  modern  American  artillery  in  the 
open  in  full  view  of  the  fort  but  about  one  mile 
and  a  half  away. 

When  all  was  ready  and  the  defenders  had  had 
ample  time  to  take  in  the  situation  and  to  count 
the  American  guns,  one  solitary  shrapnel  was 
fired,  which  went  screaming  through  the  air  and 
burst  squarely  in  the  middle  of  the  fort.  In- 
stantly the  Moro  artillery  responded  with  a  furi- 
ous cannonade,  but  all  their  shells  fell  harmlessly 
into  the  swamp  half  a  mile  in  front  of  the  Ameri- 
can position.  It  was  soon  evident  to  the  defend- 
ers that  they  were  powerless  to  reply  effectively. 

Five  or  six  hours  later,  toward  evening,  a  sec- 
ond shell  from  the  American  gun  followed  the 
first  one.     The  American  artillery  commander 

[243] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

arranged  a  framework  of  sights  in  front  of  a 
gun,  so  that  it  could  with  the  aid  of  a  small  lamp 
be  accurately  aimed  even  in  the  darkness.  At 
midnight  a  third  shell  was  fired. 

Next  morning  at  sunrise  the  three-inch  field 
gun  sent  a  single  shot  into  the  fort.  Breakfast 
and  lunch  were  announced  to  the  Moros  in  simi- 
lar manner. 

This  intermittent  firing  had  a  moral  effect 
upon  the  Oriental  temperament  even  greater 
than  would  have  been  produced  by  a  continuous 
heavy  bombardment.  Years  afterwards  Moros 
who  had  been  in  the  fort  would  complain  "We 
never  knew  when  a  new  sheave  of  shrapnel  bul- 
lets would  come  down  from  heaven  like  rain ;  the 
waiting  was  worse  for  us  than  death." 

Dato  Ali's  followers  began  slowly  to  under- 
stand the  hint  General  Wood  intended  to  convey. 
They  clearly  perceived  that  their  batteries  were 
powerless  to  injure  the  Americans,  while  the 
American  artillery  could,  if  it  chose,  easily  fire 
twenty  shells  a  minute. 

The  hopeless,  helpless  waiting  finally  became 
unendurable,  and  by  twos  and  threes  the  Moros 
began  to  steal  away  to  the  mountains  through  the 
gap  which  Wood  had  left  open  for  that  very  pur- 
pose. Ali,  powerless  to  stop  them,  finally  fled 
himself;  with  him  a  fugitive  in  the  mountains, 
his  revolt  was  manifestly  a  fiasco. 

This  ridiculous  failure  of  his  most  carefully 
laid  plans,  caused  him  to  lose  face  with  his  fol- 

[244] 


DATO  ALI 

lowers,  and  greatly  decreased  the  hereditary  and 
personal  prestige  upon  which  his  power  was 
founded.  His  people  gradually  returned  to  their 
villages,  where  they  were  not  molested  by  the 
Americans.  Leonard  Wood's  generosity  won 
their  confidence  and  respect,  which  more  than 
compensated  for  the  trouble  which  AH  caused 
during  the  succeeding  ten  months  before  he  was 
finally  run  down. 

American  expeditions  now  relentlessly  hunted 
him  through  the  jungles  to  which  he  had  fled,  ac- 
companied only  by  his  personal  followers  and  the 
members  of  his  family. 

On  one  occasion,  Ali  ambushed  a  small  Ameri- 
can scouting  party  and  succeeded  in  killing  a 
number  of  the  men.  This  occurred  near  Simpi- 
tan,  just  west  of  Lake  Liguasan,  a  large  shallow 
body  south  of  the  Cotabato  River  covered  with 
floating  islands  of  sudge.  This  water  is  very 
shallow  and  only  navigable  for  small  ship-boats 
and  dugouts.  A  channel  runs  between  the  is- 
lands of  sudge,  but  as  these  move  about  with  every 
change  of  wind,  the  channel  is  constantly  shifting, 
so  that  even  the  natives  living  on  the  shores  often 
get  lost  in  attempting  a  crossing.  The  shortest 
trip  on  record  was  eighteen  hours. 

The  General  collected  all  the  available  dug- 
outs in  the  vicinity  and  started  through  to  Simpi- 
tal  with  as  many  men  as  the  available  canoes 
would  carry,  in  the  hope  to  corner  Ali  before 
he  could  get  back  to  the  high  ranges.    The  guides 

[245] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

In  the  leading  boats  often  took  false  channels,  and 
the  party  would  then  be  obliged  to  turn  back  and 
try  again.  The  General  himself  was  in  a  small 
American  boat,  with  one  aide  and  two  Moro  pad- 
dlers,  the  four  men  taking  turns  at  the  paddles, 
two  at  a  time. 

When  darkness  came  on  and  it  was  necessary 
to  tie  up  for  the  night,  the  boats  were  shoved  well 
into  patches  of  lotus  plants  which  were  encoun- 
tered from  time  to  time.  There  were  two  excel- 
lent reasons  for  selecting  these  refuges.  The 
patches  of  lotus,  which  often  cover  an  acre  or 
more  of  surface,  are  fixed.  They  grow  in  very 
shallow  water,  are  firmly  rooted  and  are  the  only 
immovable  bodies  in  all  these  miles  of  floating 
sudge.  Again,  the  mosquitoes  of  the  lake  which 
are  terrible  pests,  making  sleep  impossible,  do  not 
for  some  reason  come  near  the  lotus  plants.  In 
these  patches  alone  can  one  be  free  from  the  tor- 
ment of  their  sting.  The  odor  of  the  lotus  flower, 
which  is  most  agreeable  to  human  beings,  is  pre- 
sumably disagreeable  to  these  insects. 

The  small  size  of  even  the  General's  boat  can 
be  estimated  from  the  fact  that  there  was  no 
room  for  the  two  Moros  to  sleep,  except  by  lying 
across  the  legs  of  the  aide.  At  intervals  during 
the  night  when  he  became  so  cramped  and  numb 
that  he  had  to  change  his  position,  he  was  first 
obliged  to  wake  the  two  Moros  before  he  could 
move. 

[246] 


DATO  ALI 

Even  during  the  pursuit  of  Dato  AH  every  pos- 
sible last  effort  was  made  to  persuade  him  to  sur- 
render and  thus  save  more  bloodshed. 

Shortly  after  the  Simpitan  affair,  a  half-caste 
reported  that  he  believed  he  could  get  into  com- 
munication with  Ali.  The  General  had  a  Navy 
gunboat  put  at  his  disposal,  and  sent  an  aide  with 
him  up  the  Cotabato  River  to  see  what  could  be 
accomplished. 

Ali's  brother,  Jimbangan,  had  been  captured 
near  Sirinaya,  by  troops  pursuing  Ali,  and  was 
then  a  prisoner  in  the  town  of  Cotabato.  One 
of  his  sons  was  secured  as  a  messenger.  He 
would  start  out  with  a  message,  going  to  the  last 
place  that  Ali  had  been  heard  from  and  then 
tracing  him  from  place  to  place  until  he  caught 
up  with  him.  Ali  would  then  send  back  his  re- 
ply and  immediately  move  on,  fearing  treachery. 
In  this  slow  manner  the  parleys  were  carried  on. 
There  would  often  be  an  interval  of  a  week  or  ten 
days  between  the  sending  of  a  message  and  re- 
ceiving the  reply. 

A  meeting  was  finally  arranged  to  be  held  on 
the  banks  of  the  Cotabato,  for  which  very  de- 
tailed arrangements  were  made  through  the  mes- 
senger. These  included  the  cutting  out  of  the 
high  grass  in  an  area  of  some  four  or  five  acres, 
so  that  the  conference  could  take  place  in  its  cen- 
ter without  chance  of  an  ambush  by  either  side. 
Each  party  to  the  meeting  was  to  consist  of  five 
persons.     The  District  Governor  and  the  aide 

[247] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

were  to  head  the  American  party,  which  also  in- 
cluded the  captain  of  the  gunboat  and  two  armed 
enlisted  men. 

After  several  postponements,  the  parley  was 
finally  held  in  a  pouring  rain,  and  after  a  great 
deal  of  talk  AH  agreed  to  surrender,  but  stated 
that  before  doing  so  he  wished  to  give  presents 
to  the  Governor  and  the  aide. 

These  presents  were  quickly  produced  and 
proved  to  be  two  very  handsome  bronze  lan- 
takas.  Ali,  however,  began  to  be  nervous,  and 
after  a  little  time  said  he  had  not  been  informed 
that  the  Captain  of  the  Gunboat  was  to  be  one 
of  the  five  Americans  present  at  the  meeting,  and 
that  he  wished  to  give  him  a  present  also. 

In  courtesy  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  wait 
patiently  for  the  arrival  of  this  third  present, 
although  the  Americans  suspected  it  was  merely 
a  ruse  of  Ali  to  gain  time  for  some  secret  pur- 
pose. 

During  the  long  wait  for  this  present,  Ali's 
principal  lieutenant  definitely  persuaded  him  to 
put  off  his  surrender  until  another  effort  had 
been  made  to  regain  his  lost  prestige  with  the 
clans.  Eventually  the  present  for  the  gunboat 
Captain  arrived,  and  proved  to  be  an  old  pony. 
After  it  had  been  duly  presented,  Ali  made  an 
appointment  for  a  new  meeting  the  following 
Sunday,  at  which  all  the  arms  of  his  followers 
were  to  be  turned  in.  The  conference  was  then 
terminated. 

[248] 


DATO  ALI 

Although  AH  did  not  keep  this  appointment,  he 
did  agree,  after  a  great  deal  more  correspondence, 
to  meet  the  Americans  at  another  point  and  there 
again  consented  to  surrender.  When  he  asked 
how  he  was  to  begin  his  surrendering,  he  was 
told  to  turn  over  his  arms.  He  said,  for  that 
he  would  have  to  go  back  to  his  people  to  give 
the  necessary  orders.,  In  a  few  minutes,  guns  of 
the  older  patterns,  including  some  Tower  mus- 
kets loaded  with  broken  glass,  began  to  arrive. 
This  sort  of  thing  continued  until  dark,  but  it 
was  afterwards  learned  that  all  the  time  AH  was 
getting  away  as  fast  as  ever  he  could.  As  a  truce 
had  been  agreed  upon,  there  was  nothing  for  the 
Americans  to  do  but  let  him  go,  and  some  ten 
days  later,  negotiations  were  finally  broken  off. 
They  had  covered  a  period  of  several  months,  and 
illustrate  Wood's  patient  efforts  to  induce  the 
chief  to  surrender  without  bloodshed,  and  thus 
avoid  inflicting  hardships  on  the  few  ignorant 
people  who  still  followed  him,  and  who  obeyed 
him  only  through  fear. 

It  now  became  clearly  evident  that  Dato  AH 
had  really  no  intention  whatever  of  surrendering, 
that  he  was  simply  playing  for  time,  in  the  hope 
that  the  matter  would  blow  over  and  his  sins 
finally  be  forgotten. 

It  is  characteristic  of  Leonard  Wood  that  when 
all  efforts  at  conciliation  or  arbitration  have 
failed  and  an  issue  must  finally  be  squarely  faced, 

[249] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

he  always  meets  it  fearlessly,  no  matter  how  un- 
pleasant it  may  prove. 

Therefore  the  pursuit  of  Ali  was  now  taken  up 
relentlessly.  Expedition  after  expedition  went 
out  to  capture  him  only  to  return  empty-handed. 
Every  clew  to  his  whereabouts  was  carefully  in- 
vestigated and  followed  up.  Finally,  after  nearly 
a  year  of  persistent  but  fruitless  effort,  one  of 
Wood's  personal  aides,  Captain  McCoy,  led  a 
desperate  band  of  Americans  across  two  hundred 
miles  of  unbroken  jungle  on  a  secret  forced 
march,  during  the  last  days  of  which  they  were 
reduced  to  living  on  lizards  and  roots,  until  one 
morning  they  walked  into  Dato  Ali's  camp,  tak- 
ing it  completely  by  surprise.  There  was  a  brief 
and  savage  fight,  during  which  Lieutenant  Rem- 
ington shot  the  Dato  with  his  pistol  as  Ali  stood 
on  the  porch  of  his  hut  firing  with  a  rifle  at  the 
American  soldiers. 

Thus  the  man  who  had  once  been  Mindanao's 
most  powerful  chieftain  died  a  fugitive,  and  from 
his  fate  the  other  Moro  sultans  learned  a  crown- 
ing and  never-to-be-forgotten  lesson. 

Wood  welcomed  assignment  to  the  "most  dan- 
gerous place  in  the  Philippine  Government,  and 
fought  Moros  through  woods  and  swamps  and 
mountains  and  jungles  for  a  year  and  a  half,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  was  practically  continually  un- 
der fire.  He  sent  no  soldiers  where  he  would  not 
go  himself;  he  shared  every  hardship  and  fought 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  regulars.    His  men 

[250] 


DATO  ALI 

loved  him ;  his  associates  respected  him ;  and  his 
Government  had  confidence  in  him.* 

"Nowhere  did  his  genius  shine  brighter  than  in 
dealing  with  the  natives  in  a  diplomatic  way. 
Where  force  availed  nothing,  he  won  by  diplo- 
macy and  established  peace  and  prosperity  in  re- 
gions where  such  things,  presumably,  had  never 
been  obtained  since  the  world  began. 

"He  went  from  the  rulership  of  this  bad  prov- 
ince of  Mindanao,  leaving  behind  him  a  land  of 
law  and  order,  of  schoolhouses,  and  of  courts  of 
justice,  a  land  of  liberated  womanhood  that  be- 
fore his  coming  had  been  enslaved  and  held  as 
chattel.  He  created  a  new  world  in  the  short 
space  of  three  years." 

In  1905,  when  Wood  returned  to  America  on 
sick  leave,  he  left  the  Moro  provinces  the  best 
governed  section  of  the  Pnilippines,  and  for  the 
first  time  in  history  the  Moros  were  at  peace  with 
the  world  and  with  each  other. 

*The  Wilmington    (N.   C.)    Star. 


[251] 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    MILITARY   ADMINISTRATOR 

As  a  Military  Administrator  General  Wood  has 
filled  a  greater  number  of  important  positions 
than  any  other  living  American  soldier.  He  was 
Commander  of  the  Philippines  Division  from 
1906-1908,  Commander  of  the  Eastern  Depart- 
ment of  the  United  States  1909-1910,  Chief  of 
Staff  of  the  United  States  Army  1910-1914,  Com- 
mander of  the  Eastern  Department  1914-1917, 
Commander  of  the  Southeastern  Department  for 
a  few  months  in  19 17,  Commander  of  the  89th  and 
10th  American  Infantry  Divisions  during  their 
training  periods,  and  is  now  Commander  of  the 
Central  Department. 

The  most  striking  characteristic  of  his  work  as 
a  military  administrator  is  the  extraordinary 
degree  to  which  he  has  been  able  to  subordi- 
nate the  idea  that  an  army  is  an  engine  of  de- 
struction, and  the  extent  to  which  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  making  it  an  instrument  of  constructive 
work  in  every  community  where  he  has  been  sta- 
tioned. 

He  has  never  employed  military  force,  except 
as  a  last  resort,  after  all  other  means  of  accom- 

[252] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

plishing  his  object  have  been  tried  and  have 
failed ;  he  has  an  unerring  instinct  for  the  moment 
when  further  diplomacy  is  useless,  when  it  will 
only  be  interpreted  as  weakness,  and  when  force 
is  the  only  road  to  peace. 

In  his  official  reports  we  continually  find  sucK 
statements  as  the  following,  written  in  the  Philip- 
pines : 

"Conditions  among  the  Moros  throughout  the 
department  are  generally  peaceful.  The  estab- 
lishment of  civil  government,  and  the  extension 
of  certain  laws  and  regulations  have  caused  some 
excitement,  and  at  times  serious  resistance,  espe- 
cially the  laws  prohibiting  slavery,  slave  dealing, 
and  slave  catching.  .  .  .  Force  was  only  resorted 
to  after  peaceful  means  had  failed,  and  in  almost 
every  instance  actual  fighting  was  initiated  by  the 
Moros.,, 

A  year  later  he  was  able  to  report: 

"Conditions  in  all  which  pertain  to  public  or- 
der and  the  observance  of  law  have  greatly  im- 
proved during  the  past  year,  and  many  people 
never  before  reached  have  been  brought  under 
the  influence  of  the  Government. 

"Slave-catching,  slave-dealing  and  slave-hold- 
ing have  practically  ceased,  and  observance  of 
the  instructions  of  the  duly  constituted  author- 
ities has  become  the  rule  rather  than  the  ex- 
ception. Occasionally  there  have  been  fanatical 
attempts  to  cause  an  uprising;  in  every  instance 
these  have  been  promptly  suppressed  and  the  au- 

[253] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

thors  severely  punished.  It  is  regretted  that  the 
operations  necessary  to  this  end  have  resulted  in 
the  death  of  some  excellent  officers  and  men, 
killed  in  the  performance  of  duty,  and  in  a  very 
considerable  loss  among  the  Moros.  At  present 
officials  of  the  Government  can  go  without  an 
escort,  where  it  formerly  required  an  extremely 
strong  one." 

In  a  lecture  given  before  the  American  Acad- 
emy in  1916  on  the  "Constructive  Work  of  the 
Army"  he  forcefully  summed  up  his  views  of  the 
mission  of  our  military  forces.  His  ideas  are  by 
no  means  those  of  the  majority  of  his  fellow  of- 
ficers, but  are  rather  an  expression  of  his  own 
ideals  and  conceptions  of  the  role  of  the  army: 

"I  want  to  say  a  word  to  you  about  the  life- 
saving  work  of  our  country  in  the  tropics  through 
its  principal  agent,  the  Army,  *  *  *  an  agent 
whose  life-saving  work  has  been  of  infinite  value 
to  mankind  and  to  the  nation. 

"We  in  America  understand  too  little  the  work 
of  the  Army,  too  little  of  what  it  has  done  to 
save  life,  and  we  talk  too  much  of  it  as  a  destruc- 
tive force.  There  are  very  few  who  realize  that 
in  ten  peaceful  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  of  a 
war  finished  about  135  years  ago  we  killed  some 
1,800  people,  mostly  young  boys,  and  wounded 
some  35,000,  mostly  boys  and  young  children. 
The  killed  of  those  ten  peaceful  single  day  cele- 
brations about  equal  all  the  killed  of  the  Span- 
ish war  and  the  Philippine  Rebellion  and  the  In- 

[254] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

dian  wars  of  the  preceding  ten  years.  And  the 
wounded  of  those  ten  peaceful  day  celebrations, 
were,  roughly,  seven  times  the  wounded  of  all 
those  wars. 

"War  is  by  no  means  the  greatest  cause  of 
death  among  the  human  race.  Typhoid  fever 
every  year  in  this  country,  until  some  doctors  dis- 
covered how  to  control  it,  cost  40,000  lives.  That 
number  almost  equals  the  loss  of  life  on  the  bat- 
tlefield of  all  our  wars  since  the  foundation  of 
our  Republic,  excluding  those  of  the  Civil  War. 
Our  industrial  accidents  each  year  amount  to 
some  462,000,  with  a  death  list  of  79,000. 

"You  take  little  interest  in  correcting  the 
causes  and  conditions  which  make  such  things 
possible,  but  talk  a  great  deal  about  the  destruc- 
tive nature  of  the  Army,  of  which  you  know  ex- 
tremely little. 

"We  have  heard  here  to-night,  from  the 
speaker  who  preceded  me,  that  international  peace 
can  best  be  secured  by  doing  away  with  patriot- 
ism, and  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  national 
conscience.  So  far  as  America  goes,  I  claim  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  national  conscience,  and 
a  very  strong  and  a  very  active  one.  .  .  .  The 
best  type  of  national  conscience  will  only  be  found 
where  the  training  of  individuals  has  been  broad 
and  sound.  The  national  conscience  as  a  whole 
consists  of  the  collective  conscience  of  individ- 
uals; consequently  it  depends  upon  individual 
training  and  individual   morals.     International 

[255] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

congresses  can  do  very  little  if  the  training  of 
the  people  has  been  unsound  and  they  are  want- 
ing in  proper  moral  principles.  It  is  the  educa- 
tion of  the  individual,  after  all,  which  counts  and 
this  education  must  begin  in  the  home.  If  we 
have  decent,  moral  boys  and  girls  and  sound 
teaching  in  the  home  we  shall  have  good  morals 
in  public  life;  and  we  shall  have  a  quiet,  strong, 
God-fearing  nation  which,  while  not  aggressive, 
will,  I  hope,  always  be  proud  of  its  flag  and  all 
that  it  stands  for,  willing  to  defend  its  interests 
when  attacked,  and,  while  seeking  to  avert  war 
through  justice  and  fair  dealing,  will  neverthe- 
less be  ready  and  willing  to  resist  injustice  and^ 
accept  war  rather  than  peace-with-dishonor  or 
peace  which  involves  conditions  worse  than  war. 

"When,  in  1898,  we  took  over  our  trust  in 
Cuba,  the  conscience  of  the  American  people  de- 
creed that  we  should  not  exploit  that  island,  but 
that  we  should  do  all  that  we  could  to  build  up 
and  better  the  people.  For  four  years  the  work 
was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Army,  acting  as 
an  agent  of  reconstruction.  Although  the  form 
of  government  was  one  of  military  intervention, 
with  the  absolute  power  of  life  and  death,  the 
Army  nevertheless  never  interfered  with  the  Cu- 
ban Courts,  but  on  the  contrary  supported  and 
protected  them;  and  the  record  for  the  prompt 
punishment  of  crime  was  better  than  in  any  state 
of  the  Union. 

"The  death-rate  in  that  Island  was  reduced  by 

[256] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

the  Army  from  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world  to 
one  of  the  smallest.  The  wonderful  results  which 
grew  out  of  the  work  and  discoveries  of  Surgeon 
Walter  Reed  and  his  associates,  who  nobly  and 
generously  gave  health  and  even  life  itself  to  the 
work,  have  been  applied  to  the  control  of  yellow 
fever  in  our  own  southern  states,  in  Central 
America,  and  in  northern  South  American  coun- 
tries, as  well  as  in  Cuba  and  the  islands  of  the 
West  Indies,  and  have  brought  untold  blessings 
to  those  lands  through  the  doing  away  with  their 
most  terrible  scourge. 

"The  tropics  have  been  made  a  white  man's 
country  so  far  as  this  disease  is  concerned.  The 
number  of  lives  saved  in  the  tropical  lands  every 
year  are  many  times  the  number  of  those  lost 
during  the  war,  and  the  saving  in  our  own  coun- 
try has  been  very  great,  not  only  in  life  but  in 
money,  exceeding  in  all  probability  many  times 
the  cost  of  the  war.  Business  men  appreciate 
what  the  periodic  quarantines  against  ^yellow  fe- 
ver, extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  along  the  Atlantic  Coast  sometimes  al- 
most to  the  Potomac  and  away  up  the  Mississippi 
above  Memphis,  cost  the  people  of  the  South.  All 
freight  was  tied  up,  all  movement  of  individuals 
greatly  curtailed  and  business  practically  par- 
alyzed. 

"In  Porto  Rico  one  of  our  young  army  medi- 
cal officers,  Dr.  Bailey  K.  Ashford,  interested 
himself  in  whaJt  is  known  as  tropical  anaemia,  or 

[257] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

hookworm  disease.  He  established  the  method 
of  its  control,  established  a  systematic  campaign 
against  it  throughout  Porto  Rico,  and  finally  re- 
duced the  death-rate  from  this  disease  alone  in 
this  little  island  of  a  million  people  by  1,400  per 
year.  Here  again  is  a  great  sanitary  discovery 
growing  out  of  the  work  of  the  Army;  and,  like 
the  prevention  of  yellow  fever,  is  a  discovery 
which  is  of  immense  value  to  tropical  and  semi- 
tropical  peoples.  What  we  for  a  long  time  con- 
sidered as  tropical  laziness  or  shiftlessness  is 
traceable  very  largely  to  the  effects  of  this  dis- 
ease, so  that  the  discovery  of  its  cause  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  method  of  treatment  and  con- 
trol means  the  revitalizing  of  the  people  of  these 
tropical  countries,  as  well  as  of  the  people  of  a 
considerable  portion  of  our  own  southern  states. 
A  recent  estimate  by  planters  in  Porto  Rico 
places  the  increased  efficiency  of  their  men,  inci- 
dent to  doing  away  with  this  disease,  at  60  per 
cent.  It  is  hard  to  estimate  the  economic  value  of 
a  discovery  of  this  kind,  and  it  is  still  more  diffi- 
cult to  appreciate  the  far-reaching  effect  in  the 
way  of  the  saving  of  human  life  and  adding  to 
the  measure  of  human  contentment  and  happi- 
ness. 

"You  are  no  doubt  familiar  with  the  recent 
assembling  of  troops  on  the  Mexican  border,  and 
that  at  first  a  great  deal  of  typhoid  existed  on 
the  Mexican  side  of  the  river.  This  made  it  nec- 
essary to  take  up  the  systematic  control  of  ty- 

[258] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

phoid  through  the  use  of  a  typhoid  serum  now 
used  in  the  British  Army.  It  was  taken  up  by 
our  medical  officers  with  such  success  that  last 
year,  with  something  over  100,000  men  scattered 
all  over  the  world,  there  was  not  a  death  from 
typhoid  in  the  Army.  Contrast  this  with  the  con- 
ditions at  Chickamauga,  in  1898,  when  there 
were  over  1,500  cases  of  typhoid  in  that  one  camp 
alone,  with  a  huge  death-rate.  This  discovery, 
made  in  the  Army,  is  destined  to  be  of  inestimable 
benefit  to  all  mankind. 

"Again,  in  the  Philippines,  our  medical  work 
incident  to  the  occupation  of  those  islands  has 
done  away  with  beri  beri.  This  was  not  directly 
the  work  of  the  Army,  but  was  accomplished  by 
the  medical  officers  connected  with  the  Insular 
government,  working  under  the  direction  of  the 
Insular  Bureau  of  the  War  Department. 

"Other  great  results  have  been  accomplished 
in  the  control  of  malaria  and  the  general  better- 
ment of  sanitary  conditions.  In  fact,  the  whole 
work  in  these  tropical  possessions  has  tended  to 
the  betterment  of  conditions  under  which  people 
live,  both  from  the  standpoint  of  government  and 
the  standpoint  of  sanitation.  The  improvements 
in  sanitation  have  been  more  generally  appre- 
ciated than  in  any  other  department  of  our  work, 
and  have  undoubtedly  resulted  in  building  up 
bonds  of  lasting  sympathy  with  the  people  who 
have  come  under  our  control,  for  they  appreciate 

[259] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

in  their  hearts  the  great  work  which  has  been 
done  for  them. 

"So,  when  you  think  of  our  Army  and  its  work, 
do  not  think  of  it  always  as  an  aggregation  of 
righting  people,  bent  only  on  righting,  but  remem- 
ber that  it  is  one  of  the  great  constructive  life- 
saving  agencies  of  the  Republic.  Its  work  has 
been  continuous  frorh  the  earliest  days.  It  was 
engaged  for  years  in  opening  up  the  West,  con- 
trolling the  Indian  situation,  safeguarding  the 
mail  routes,  keeping  roads  open,  aiding  in  sur- 
veys. It  was  the  advance  guard  of  civilization 
and  the  protecting  agent  of  people  crossing  the 
great  unsettled  section  between  the  Pacific  slope 
and  the  eastern  frontiers. 

"In  recent  years  the  control  of  conditions  re- 
sulting from  Mississippi  floods  has  been  handled 
by  the  Army,  handled  so  quietly  and  so  effective- 
ly that  few  have  ever  heard  that  at  times  200,000 
destitute  people  were  being  taken  care  of  each 
day  by  the  Army.  This  work  was  done  quietly 
by  young  officers  who  were  trained  to  be  obedi- 
ent, to  do  things  as  told,  to  do  them  promptly  and 
not  to  talk  about  them. 

"There  is  no  more  democratic  element  in  this 
country  than  your  Army  and  your  Navy  and 
this  is  as  it  should  be ;  and  no  class  stands  abuse 
or  misrepresentation  with  less  resentment  than 
the  two  sister  services.  We  know  you  do  not  un- 
derstand us,  our  purpose  or  our  work,  because 
you  constantly  refer  to  the  Army  as  a  destruc- 

[260] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

tive  element.  You  might  as  well  say  that  your 
police  force  is  a  destructive  element  simply  be- 
cause it  is  trained  to  do  certain  things  with  force 
if  it  has  to. 

"Another  idea  you  must  get  out  of  your  heads 
is  that  soldiers  and  sailors  are  fond  of  fighting 
for  its  own  sake.  You  might  just  as  well  say  that 
the  life-saving  service  down  on  the  coast  in  win- 
ter is  praying  for  gales  of  wind  and  rough  work 
at  sea  simply  because  they  are  trained  to  it.  The 
Army  and  Navy  are  willing  to  do  cheerfully  what 
the  nation  decrees  in  this  line  because  they  are 
the  people  to  do  it.  Try  to  look  at  the  construc- 
tive work  the  nation  has  done  through  its  Army 
and  Navy  and  remember  that  it  is  always  subor- 
dinate to  the  will  of  the  nation,  that  it  is  without 
unworthy  ambition,  that  it  hates  militarism,  that 
it  is  simply  your  agent.  When  you  turn  to  the 
work  of  your  country  in  its  dealings  with  the 
tropical  peoples  who  came  under  our  control  as  a 
result  of  the  war  of  1898,  remember  that  none  of 
these  countries  has  been  exploited  for  our  profit, 
that  their  people  have  received  great  benefit  as 
the  result  of  our  control,  and  that  they  are  liv- 
ing under  far  better  conditions  as  to  education, 
material  comforts  and  health  than  ever  before." 

Another  point  of  interest  in  General  Wood's 
career  as  a  Military  Administrator  is  the  strict 
economy  he  has  enforced,  and  the  minute  atten- 
tion which  he  has  given  to  insure  judicious  expen- 

[261] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

diture  of  all  the  Government  funds  and  property 
entrusted  to  his  care.  The  supervision  of  dis- 
bursements, he  never  entirely  delegates  to  subor- 
dinates, no  matter  how  competent  and  trust- 
worthy they  may  be. 

This  phase  of  his  work  is  illustrated  by  the 
following  extracts  taken  at  random  from  his  offi- 
cial reports  while  in  the  Philippines: 

He  recommended  "that  articles  of  clothing, 
including  shoes  and  other  articles  liable  to  be  in- 
jured by  moths,  white  ants,  or  tropical  conditions, 
be  packed  in  tin-lined  cases.  Attention  is  invited 
to  the  fact  that  this  method  is  employed  by  com- 
mercial firms  here,  and  if  adopted  by  the  Govern- 
ment would  prevent  much  loss  of  stores  that  un- 
der the  present  method  of  packing  is  unavoidable. 
This  recommendation  has  been  repeatedly  made 
by  the  undersigned.  It  is  believed  that  the  cost 
of  packing  in  this  manner  would  not  exceed  10 
per  cent,  of  the  present  loss  due  to  inadequate 
protection  against  insects  and  moisture.,, 

"It  is  the  policy  in  this  department  to  limit  the 
construction  of  nipa  (thatch)  buildings,  and  to 
have  all  future  construction  of  a  permanent  char- 
acter. In  this  connection  it  is  recommended  that 
a  much  larger  proportion  of  native  lumber  be  sup- 
plied than  at  present,  for,  although  the  first  cost 
may  be  somewhat  higher  than  that  of  imported 
lumber,  its  greater  durability  and  comparative 

[262] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

freedom  from  the  attack  of  insects  will  in  the  end 
make  its  use  more  economical. 

"Moreover,  when  the  cost  of  transportation 
and  the  expense  of  the  numerous  handlings  of  the 
lumber  which  is  brought  from  the  United  States 
have  been  added  to  the  original  price,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  it  is  far  more  expensive  than  is  at 
first  sight  apparent.  As  there  is  an  almost  inex- 
haustible amount  of  lumber  in  these  Islands,  it  is 
held  that  the  greatest  possible  use  should  be  made 
of  it,  not  only  because  it  will  in  the  end  be  more 
economical,  but  for  the  additional  and  very  im- 
portant reason  that  it  will  help  build  up  local 
industries." 

"The  water  transportation  allowed  this  depart- 
ment has  been  reduced  by  giving  up  the  char- 
tered transport  Buluan,  which  cost  the  Govern- 
ment, including  coal,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
$6,000  per  month." 

Under  General  Wood's  economical  manage- 
ment the  diminution  in  wastage  and  spoilage  of 
army  stores  in  the  Philippines  was  so  marked 
that  at  the  end  of  1906,  his  first  year  as  Com- 
mander of  the  Philippines  Division,  he  was  able 
to  report: 

"This  year  the  value  of  the  stores  submitted 
for  condemnation  was  only  $6,483.94,  a  reduc- 
tion of  $35,084.38  as  compared  with  the  preced- 
ing year." 

[263] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

It  would  be  a  mistake  to  infer  that,  because 
General  Wood  gives  personal  attention  and  su- 
pervision to  the  details  of  the  expenditure  of 
Government  moneys,  he  ever  allows  himself,  from 
a  false  notion  of  economy,  to  lose  sight  of  broader 
financial  issues,  or  limits  himself  to  those  mat- 
ters for  which  he  is  directly  and  legally  respon- 
sible. 

We  continually  find  in  his  reports  recommen- 
dations relating  to  general  construction  of  an 
industrial  character,  such  as  the  following: 

"Plans  and  estimates  have  already  been  sub- 
mitted and  approved  for  the  construction  of  a 
narrow-gauge  railroad  from  Overton  to  Lake 
Lanao,  at  a  cost  of  $320,000.  Statements  have 
also  been  submitted  showing  that  the  saving 
which  will  be  made  in  the  cost  of  maintenance  of 
transportation,  sufficient  to  meet  present  demands 
will,  in  a  single  year,  be  almost  sufficient  to 
pay  for  the  construction  and  equipment  of  the 
road.  .  .  . 

"The  construction  of  the  railroad  is  therefore 
strongly  urged  from  every  standpoint.  .  .  . 

"The  saving  in  the  expense  of  transportation 
alone  not  only  justifies  but  demands  the  construc- 
tion of  this  road,  and  aside  from  the  military  fea- 
tures of  the  case,  the  railroad  will  do  much  to 
help  open  up  the  interior  of  the  country/' 

This  interest  in  the  "interior  of  the  country" 
is  typical  of  his  constant  effort  to  make  the 

[264] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

Army  in  all  things  the  servant  of  the  people 
among  whom  it  is  stationed,  as  will  be  indicated 
by  the  following  characteristic  statements  in 
other  parts  in  his  Philippine  reports : 

"Seeds  of  various  grasses  have,  during  the  past 
year,  been  procured  from  the  Agricultural  De- 
partment of  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of 
making  experiments,  especially  about  Lake  La- 
nao,  to  determine  the  feasibility  of  raising  for- 
age. It  is  believed  that  alfalfa  and  other  grasses 
will  do  well  in  certain  portions  of  these  islands. 
It  is  recommended  that  experiments  on  a  large 
scale  be  authorized  in  order  that  steps  may  be 
taken  to  furnish  forage  for  transportation  ani- 
mals, and  for  cavalry  and  artillery  horses.  It 
seems  poor  policy  to  transport  hay  from  the  cen- 
tral portion  of  the  United  States  to  a  country 
where  vegetation  is  as  luxuriant  as  it  is  in  the 
Philippines,  and  where  it  is  certain  that  nutritious 
and  entirely  satisfactory  grasses  for  animals  can 
be  grown. 

"It  is  believed  that  as  soon  as  the  adaptability 
of  various  grasses  has  been  established,  the  in- 
habitants of  the  islands  will  be  able  to  produce 
fodder  equal  to  the  demands  of  the  market.  Such 
a  procedure  would  not  only  very  greatly  reduce 
the  cost  of  the  maintenance  of  mounted  troops 
in  these  islands,  but  would  add  very  materially 
to  the  income  and  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants." 

[265] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

"In  the  department  of  the  Visayas  there  has 
been  a  general  condition  of  good  order  except  in 
the  Island  of  Samar,  a  large  portion  of  which  has 
been  kept  in  a  condition  of  disorder  as  a  result 
of  the  operations  of  a  large  number  of  ignorant 
fanatics  of  a  low  type,  known  as  pulajanes.  .  .  . 

"The  pulajanes  are  a  combination  of  ignorance 
and  fanaticism.  They  obey  implicitly  the  orders 
of  their  popes  and  other  leaders,  religious  or  po- 
litical. Covered  with  anting-antings  and  other 
equally  worthless  charms  they  believe  themselves 
to  be  invisible  and  invulnerable.  .  .  .  They  illus- 
trate the  undeveloped  condition  of  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  and  the  readiness  with  which  these 
naturally  peaceful  people  are  led  to  extremities  by 
false  leaders.  These  disturbances,  as  military 
matters,  are  of  little  significance,  but  they  are 
very  injurious  to  the  welfare  of  the  Island  in 
that  they  disturb  the  economic  life  of  the  people 
and  thereby  prevent  the  investment  of  capital  and 
the  extension  of  industry." 

While  Commander  of  the  Philippines  Division, 
General  Wood  took  a  leading  part  in  organizing 
the  annual  Carnival  at  Manila  on  a  new  basis. 
He  dignified  it  into  a  national  fete  which  has 
since  become  known  across  the  world,  and  in 
which  the  Americans  and  Filipinos  jointly  par- 
ticipate; he  used  it  successfully  as  a  means  of 
drawing  together  the  two  races. 

[266] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

As  a  military  administrator  General  Wood 
long  ago  appreciated  the  necessity  of  improving 
the  standard  of  the  regular  army  officer,  and 
clearly  foresaw  the  weaknesses  which  only  be- 
came generally  apparent  a  decade  later  when  we 
entered  into  the  World  War.  As  far  back  as 
1906  he  wrote: 

"In  the  line  and  staff  there  are  a  considerable 
number  of  officers  who  entered  the  service  as  a 
result  of  the  war  with  Spain,  and  .  .  .  who,  now 
that  a  condition  of  peace  is  established,  are  found 
to  be  of  a  type  which  is  not  desirable  to  continue 
in  the  regular  service.  .  .  . 

"The  class  of  officers  referred  to  is  made  tip 
of  the  men  who  find  the  hard  and  serious  work 
of  an  officer's  career  different  from  what  they 
had  expected.  This,  combined  with  the  lack  of 
excitement,  has  rendered  them  indifferent  to  im- 
provement and  in  some  instances  to  the  discharge 
of  duty. 

"It  is  difficult  to  eliminate  this  class  by  the 
means  now  afforded,  as  many  of  them,  while  far 
from  keen,  consider  the  position  of  an  officer  a 
sufficiently  good  one  to  hold  on  to  as  a  means  of 
livelihood.  .  .  .  Under  present  conditions  it  re- 
quires a  most  serious  breach  of  discipline  or  of 
law  effectually  to  retard  or  prevent  promotion. 
As  long  as  this  condition  exists,  we  must  expect 
that  lazy  and  indifferent  officers  will  take  advan- 
tage of  it.    It  is  most  desirable  to  get  rid  of  these. 

"Moreover,  a  large  percentage  of  the  field  offi- 

[267] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

cers  are  too  old  for  their  positions.  They  have 
reached  field  rank  only  in  the  latter  stages  of 
their  career.  Many  of  them  fully  realize  what  is 
apparent  to  others,  that  their  condition  is  not 
sucrf  as  to  enable  them  ...  to  perform  their  full 
duty  in  the  field  or  even  in  the  office.  Elimina- 
tion among  such  officers,  provided  it  can  be  made 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  do  them  no  injustice, 
would  be  to  the  material  benefit  of  the  service. 
.  .  .  Troops  are  energetic  and  efficient  in  accord- 
ance with  the  energy  and  efficiency  of  the  officer 
who  commands  them,  and  his  energy  and  effi- 
ciency depend  very  much  upon  his  physical  fit- 
ness. 

"It  is  desirable  to  promote  deserving  colonels 
...  to  general  officers,  but  if  the  officer  has  less 
than  five  years  to  serve  it  is  believed  that  he 
should  be  promoted  and  then  retired. 

"A  policy  which  tends  to  keep  the  list  of  gen- 
eral officers  filled  with  men  who  have  only  a  year 
or  two  of  active  service  ahead  of  them,  will  take 
the  initiative  and  energy  out  of  the  best  army 
ever  created.  Either  promote  to  high  command 
for  a  reasonable  time  or  use  such  promotion  as  a 
reward  for  service  and  retire  the  recipient,  but  do 
not  fill  the  positions  of  high  command  with  men 
who  can  not,  on  account  of  age  and  infirmity,  hold 
the  position  to  the  advantage  of  the  country  in 
time  of  war,  or  whose  time  of  service  is  so  short 
as  to  cripple  their  initiative.  .  .  . 

"With  our  small  Army  there  is  no  excuse  for 
[268] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

carrying  a  heavy  load  of  inferior  personnel.  The 
military  profession,  like  every  other  profession, 
has  among  its  members  many  men  who  are  in  it 
simply  for  a  living,  men  who  have  drifted  into 
it,  or  been  induced  to  enter  it  through  the  am- 
bition of  parents  to  have  their  sons  in  the  mili- 
tary service,  men  who  have  almost  no  soldierly 
qualities.  It  would  be  as  idle  to  suppose  that  all 
officers  are  keen,  intelligent  men,  well  up  in  their 
profession  and  devoted  to  it,  as  to  suppose  that  all 
lawyers,  doctors,  or  other  professional  men  are 
conspicuous  for  these  qualities. 

"It  is  also  futile  to  expect  that  every  officer 
who  is  able  to  pass  the  entrance  examination  to 
the  Army,  whether  he  be  from  West  Point,  from 
civil  life  or  from  the  ranks,  will  possess  those 
qualities  which  make  a  good  soldier  or  entitle 
him  to  high  command. 

".  .  .  Some  searching  system  of  elimination 
is  necessary  to  get  rid  of  those  who  are  indiffer- 
ent or  worthless,  either  through  lack  of  aptitude 
or  through  physical  or  mental  infirmity ;  and  also 
some  system  by  which  those  who  possess  special 
qualifications  which  in  the  competition  of  civil- 
life  would  take  them  over  the  heads  of  their  fel- 
lows, shall  have  their  abilities  taken  into  consid- 
eration and  given  weight  in  the  question  of  pro- 
motion. 

".  .  .  There  are  many  men  who  are  able  to 
pass  into  the  service  but  who  develop  very  little 
after  entering  it,  and  whose  capacity  in  civil  life 

[269] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

would  never  have  taken  them  above  the  lower 
grades  of  any  profession.  In  the  Army  .  .  . 
they  are  at  present  eligible  for  appointment  to 
positions  of  a  relative  importance  far  beyond  that 
which  they  would  attain  under  a  system  based 
upon  comparative  merit. 

"It  is  therefore  believed  that  not  only  should 
we  have  a  system  of  elimination,  but  that  at  least 
a  percentage,  say  two  in  five,  of  all  promotions 
should  be  by  selection.  By  this  means  alone  we 
can  advance  over  others  those  who  by  virtue  of 
their  qualifications  and  ability  are  entitled  to 
such  advance.  I  believe  that  Army  boards  can 
safely  be  trusted  to  make  such  recommendations; 
and  even  granting  that  there  may  be  isolated 
cases  of  injustice,  such  cases  will  in  no  way  com- 
pare with  the  great  injustice  which  is  now  im- 
posed upon  the  Army,  and  upon  the  really  able 
and  efficient  officers  who  are  compelled  to  mark 
time  for  a  generation  behind  those  who  are  gen- 
erally known  to  be  of  very  limited  capacity.'' 

Although  General  Wood  repeatedly  made  rec- 
ommendations of  this  sort,  and  although  for  ten 
years  he  pressed  them  to  the  best  of  his  ability, 
he  was  unable  to  overcome  the  personal  inertia 
and  the  caste-feeling  of  the  old-line  officers. 
As  a  result  the  regular  army  faced  the  World 
War  with  the  quality  of  its  commissioned  per- 
sonnel far  below  what  the  country  had  a  right  to 
expect. 

[270] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

General  Wood  also  earnestly  advocated  giv- 
ing American  officers  opportunities  to  travel, 
that  they  might  thereby  acquire  the  languages  of 
foreign  countries  and  study  the  tactics  of  their 
armies.  Admiral  Dewey's  success  at  the  naval  bat- 
tle of  Manila  was  in  no  small  degree  founded 
upon  his  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  racial  char- 
acteristics and  temperament,  not  only  of  the 
Spaniards  against  whom  he  was  fighting,  but 
also  of  the  British  and  Germans  who  were  pres- 
ent with  their  fleets,  and  with  whom  he  had  to 
deal. 

In  1905,  while  in  the  Philippines,  General 
Wood  made  the  following  recommendation  to  the 
War  Department: 

"Much  valuable  information  could  be  gathered 
by  our  officers  if  they  were  permitted  to  see  more 
of  the  armies  of  other  countries.  So  far  as  offi- 
cers serving  in  these  Islands  are  concerned,  this 
could  be  effected  at  small  expense  by  authorizing 
five  officers  of  each  regiment  serving  in  the 
Philippines  to  be  selected  by  the  colonel  upon  the 
relief  of  the  regiment  from  duty  and  ordered  to 
proceed  to  the  United  States  via  the  Far  East  and 
Europe.  They  should  be  given  four  months  for 
the  journey  and  should  be  called  upon  for  a  re- 
port on  some  designated  subject.  The  mileage 
allowed  would  almost  pay  expenses  of  the  trip, 
and  the  value  to  the  service  incident  to  such  jour- 
neys would  be  very  great.  The  officers  selected 
would  see  what  Eastern  and  European  armies 

[271]; 


LEONARD  WOOD 

are  doing;  their  mental  horizon  would  be  en- 
larged, and  their  military  value  greatly  increased- 
The  selection  of  officers  should  be  based  upon 
their  record  for  efficiency. 

"Leaves  for  purpose  of  military  investigation 
and  study  of  foreign  military  systems  and  lan- 
guages should  also  be  encouraged. 

"Systematic  efforts  should  now  be  made  to 
have  a  number  of  our  officers  acquire  a  knowl- 
edge of  Japanese  and  Chinese.  We  are  at  pres- 
ent entirely  in  the  hands  of  interpreters  in  all 
matters  where  these  languages  are  concerned. 

"Most  European  governments,  especially  Eng- 
land, encourage  their  officers  to  acquire  a  knowl- 
edge of  foreign  languages  and  deal  with  them 
very  liberally  in  the  way  of  leaves  for  this  pur- 
pose, the  officers,  after  the  proper  period  of 
study,  being  required  to  pass  an  examination  in 
the  language  selected.,, 

Nearly  ten  years  later,  while  Commanding  the 
department  of  the  East,  he  was  still  emphasizing 
the  same  necessity;  his  report  in  191 5  contains 
the  following: 

"Attention  has  repeatedly  been  invited  to  the 
value  of  travel  in  foreign  countries,  especially  to 
officers  of  command  rank,  for  the  purpose  of 
military  observation  and  study.  The  recommen- 
dations of  previous  years  in  this  connection  are 
renewed  and  urged.  As  large  a  number  of  offi- 
cers as  possible,  especially  those  of  the  higher 

[272} 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

grades,    should    attend   the    maneuvers    of   the 
larger  European  armies  each  year.  .  .  ." 

The  good  Military  Administrator  is  "he  who 
takes  care  of  his  men"  (conversation  between 
Socrates  and  Xenophon).  While  the  thought  is 
an  old  one,  it  has  been  applied  by  General  Wood 
in  many  new  ways. 

In  the  Philippines  he  instituted  a  new  yearly 
schedule,  calculated  to  increase  the  health  and 
contentment  of  his  troops.  He  devoted  the  rainy 
season  to  training  in  garrison,  and  the  dry  season 
to  maneuvers  in  the  field.  Moreover,  he  added 
general  education  to  the  curriculum  of  the  train- 
ing season,  and  athletics  to  the  order  of  business 
of  the  dry  season. 

It  was  he  who  first  officially  introduced  or- 
ganized athletics  on  a  large  scale  into  the  Amer- 
ican Army.  He  encouraged  competitive  effi- 
ciency in  military  affairs,  and  a  wholesome  inter- 
est in  athletic  prowess  and  feats  of  horseman- 
ship. 

His  quartermaster's  department  was  instructed 
to  keep  always  on  hand  the  essential  articles  of 
athletic  supplies,  such  as  horizontal  bars,  base- 
balls, hammers  and  shot,  footballs,  etc.,  for  sale 
to  company  and  post  exchanges. 

Athletic  work  became  a  regular  feature  of  the 
soldier's  life.  Wood  organized  an  annual  com- 
petitive military  and  athletic  meet  at  which  all 

[273] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

units  were  represented,  and  which  became  for  the 
soldiers  the  gala  event  of  the  year. 

Field  days  were  held  at  each  post,  in  every  de- 
partment, on  the  second  Friday  of  the  month. 
Each  department  held  an  annual  meet,  the  win- 
ners being  sent  to  the  Philippine  Championship 
Meet  at  Manila,  to  which  also  went  the  best  bat- 
teries, wagon  trains  and  supply  trains ;  each  regi- 
mental commander  sent  his  best  company. 

Military  tournaments  were  combined  with  the 
athletic  meets,  and  the  soldiers,  in  consequence, 
took  an  added  interest  in  their  profession.  There 
were  contests  between  Batteries  of  Field  Artil- 
lery to  see  which  could  most  quickly  take  to 
pieces  a  mountain  gun,  pack  it  on  mule-back,  ad- 
vance 50  yards  at  a  gallop,  halt,  unpack  the  gun, 
reassemble  it,  load,  and  fire  a  shot.  One  year  the 
contest  was  won  by  the  Seventeenth  Battery  in 
the  remarkable  time  of  forty-five  and  one-fifth 
seconds.  Another  Battery  was  only  a  fraction  of 
a  second  behind. 

There  has  recently  been  much  agitation  for  the 
reform  of  our  system  of  courts  martial,  but  the 
injustices  involved  were  many  years  ago  fully 
appreciated  by  General  Wood,  and  he  did  every- 
thing in  his  power  to  mitigate  them.  When 
Commander  of  the  Eastern  Department  in  1909, 
he  recommended  that : 

"The  present  system  of  handling  military  con- 
victs should  be  changed  and  a  procedure  inaugu- 

[274] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

rated  looking  to  reform  as  well  as  punishment,  in 
which  it  will  be  possible  for  prisoners  by  good 
conduct  to  obtain  a  standing  which  will  entitle 
them  to  reenlistment  in  the  Army  on  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Secretary  of  War.  Many  men  are 
dishonorably  discharged  on  five  previous  convic- 
tions, all  of  them  for  minor  offenses;  they  are 
not,  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  term,  convicts.  The 
designation  convict  should  be  limited  to  those 
who  have  been  found  guilty  of  serious  offenses. 
Many  of  the  men  now  held  as  military  con- 
victs would,  with  opportunity,  demonstrate  their 
fitness  for  another  chance.  It  should  be  possible 
for  them  to  earn  it.  .  .  ." 

He  took  particular  interest  in  the  status  of 
men  court-martialed  for  desertion  in  time  of 
peace.  In  191 1,  as  Chief  of  Staff,  he  was  able 
to  report  as  follows: 

"Careful  consideration  is  being  given  to  the 
adoption  of  a  system  of  handling  men  charged 
with  the  offense  of  desertion.  Punishment, 
while  an  essential  part  of  the  treatment  of  de- 
serters, should  not  be  the  principal  object,  but 
rather  correction  and  reform.  *     *     * 

"The  really  serious  question  is  what  to  do  with 
the  deserter  when  he  has  been  captured,  or,  as  is 
often  the  case,  has  given  himself  up. 

"Prisoners  guilty  of  purely  military  offenses 
should  be  separated  from  and  dealt  with  entirely 
differently  than  those  charged  with  statutory  or 
common-law  crimes  and  offenses. 

[275] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

"It  is  believed  that  under  a  better  system  of 
handling  the  deserter,  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  men  now  lost  to  the  service  and  sent  back  to 
civil  life  branded  as  convicts  could  be  saved  and 
made  valuable  members  of  the  community.  Un- 
der present  conditions  a  man  found  guilty  of  de- 
sertion has  no  chance  to  redeem  himself,  and  to 
earn  by  good  conduct  a  chance  to  serve  honorably 
as  a  soldier.  No  matter  how  much  he  may 
desire  to  clear  his  name  he  can  not  do  so. 

"Most  of  the  offenders  are  mere  boys.  The 
practical  effect  of  our  present  military  prison  sys- 
tem and  the  legislation  governing  it,  is  to  crush 
out  of  these  young  men  all  hope  of  atoning  for 
an  offense  the  gravity  of  which  most  of  them 
failed  to  appreciate,  to  brand  them  as  convicts 
and  to  deprive  them  of  citizenship  and  hope  for 
the  future. 

"I  therefore  believe  the  present  method  of 
handling  these  young  men  to  be  fundamentally 
wrong,  contrary  to  modern  penology  and  to  the 
application  of  just  and  humane  principles,  and 
that  it  is  doing  infinite  harm  to  those  brought 
under  its  influence. 

"These  young  men  enter  the  Army  at  an  age 
when  their  characters  are  largely  unformed  and 
leave  the  service  as  they  would  leave  any  other 
job  they  are  tired  of,  little  understanding  the 
gravity  of  this  offense.  Many  of  them  can  be  re- 
formed. This  should  be  our  purpose  in  all  cases. 
We  must  give  these  young  men  one  chance  to 

[276] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

make  good  and  to  earn,  by  good  conduct,  an  hon- 
orable discharge.  We  do  not  do  it  under  the 
present  system. " 

As  a  Military  Administrator  it  was  always 
General  Wood's  effort  so  to  conduct  his  com- 
mand that  every  enlisted  man  in  it  gained  per- 
manent advantage  from  his  service.  To  quote 
General  Wood's  own  words,  the  ex-soldier 
should  be  sent  "back  to  civil  life  a  more  valuable 
industrial  factor  because  of  better  physique, 
improved  mental  and  physical  discipline,  and  a 
greater  respect  for  the  flag,  for  law  and  order, 
and  for  his  superiors.,, 

He  is  always  looking  for  a  chance  to  make 
them  more  useful  and  more  successful  as  citi- 
zens. He  also  endeavors  to  improve  their  civil- 
ian education,  whenever  it  can  be  accomplished 
without  jeopardizing  military  efficiency. 

When  the  armistice  was  signed  on  November 
nth,  1918,  our  troops  could  not  at  once  be  re- 
turned to  civil  life,  but  with  the  end  of  the  fight- 
ing the  militant  spirit  of  civilian  America  in  arms 
fell  away. 

Nevertheless  many  of  the  units  abroad  were 
kept  marching  or  standing  about  in  the  rain  at 
"maneuvers,"  for  months  after  the  armistice,  by 
officers  who  could  not  seem  to  get  it  through  their 
heads  that  the  war  was  over.  General  Wood, 
however,  without  delay  converted  his   division 

[277] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

into  a  university,  and  began  to  prepare  his  men 
for  the  problems  of  peace  time. 

He  arranged  to  have  the  University  of  Kansas 
take  400  of  his  men  into  its  laboratories.  Lec- 
turers came  from  the  Agricultural  College  to 
give  courses  to  the  farmers  among  his  soldiers. 
Other  professors  taught  Economics  and  Ameri- 
can History  in  terms  which  could  be  understood 
by  even  the  most  recently  Americanized  dough- 
boy of  foreign  birth. 

General  Wood  sensed  intuitively  and  instant- 
ly the  "next  thing,"  as  he  has  always  done. 
Just  as  he  initiated  the  epochal  Plattsburg  move- 
ment, while  all  others  in  authority  were  still  cry- 
ing about  being  too  proud  to  fight,  and  about 
a  million  men  springing  to  arms  between  sunrise 
and  sunset;  so  now  at  the  end  of  the  war,  while 
others  in  military  authority  were  maneuver- 
ing and  drilling  and  inspecting,  Leonard  Wood 
was  teaching  Americanism  on  the  basis  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  He  was  urging 
preparedness  for.  peace  just  as  ardently  as  he 
had  pushed  preparedness  for  war  four  years  be- 
fore. He  was  leading  the  men  under  his  charge 
to  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  the  internation- 
alism of  Bolshevist  Soviets  was  impractical  and 
vicious. 

From  Camp  Funston,  he  was  assigned  to  com- 
mand the  Central  Department,  with  Head- 
quarters at  Chicago.    He  arrived  there  on  March 

[278] 


THE  MILITARY  ADMINISTRATOR 

20th,  to  find  that  ex-soldiers  and  ex-sailors  were 
having  difficulty  in  obtaining  employment  and  in 
otherwise  readjusting  themselves  to  life  on  a 
peace  basis.  Various  civilian  relief  societies 
were  at  work,  but  they  frequently  conflicted  with 
one  another,  and  the  results  obtained  were  not 
100%  efficient. 

General  Wood  met  the  situation  immediately; 
within  ten  days  a  Central  Bureau  for  reemploy- 
ment was  in  full  operation  at  120  West  Adams 
Street,  coordinating  the  work  of  the  various 
welfare  societies  of  the  city  in  their  efforts  to 
meet  the  thousand  and  one  needs  of  the  ex- 
service  men. 

The  Red  Cross  took  charge  of  transportation, 
the  Jewish  Welfare  Board  of  vocational  training 
and  apprenticeships,  the  Salvation  Army  of 
clothing,  the  Y.M.C.A.  of  lodgings  and  food  sup- 
ply, the  Fort  Sheridan  Association  devoted  itself 
to  obtaining  positions  for  professional  men,  the 
Chicago  Women's  Clubs  ran  a  rest  room,  the 
Chicago  Legal  Aid  Society  gave  free  legal  ad- 
vice, and  the  War  Camps  Community  Service 
ran  information  booths. 

The  main  bureau  itself  took  charge  of  the  re- 
employment situation.  Its  records  show  that  in 
six  months  43,345  ex-service  men  registered 
there.  Of  that  number  32,259  asked  assistance 
in  obtaining  employment,  and  more  than  30,400 
found  places  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
bureau. 

[279] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

And  finally,  two  of  the  most  recent  achieve- 
ments of  Leonard  Wood's  career  as  a  military 
administrator  have  been  the  restoration  of  order 
after  the  riots  in  Omaha,  where  law-respecting 
and  law-abiding  citizens  were  trampled  under 
foot  by  a  mob;  and  afterward  at  the  steel  strikes 
at  Gary,  where,  although  he  maintained  public 
order  and  although  the  property  of  the  mills  was 
protected,  the  strikers  said  that  Leonard  Wood 
was  the  only  man  who  ever  gave  them  their  full 
rights  under  the  Constitution. 


[280] 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  CONSERVATOR  OF  AMERICANISM 

Leonard  Wood's  past  life  divides  itself  into 
three  periods  of  activity — his  eighteen  years  of 
practice  as  a  Surgeon;  his  brief  but  brilliant  ca- 
reer as  a  combat  soldier;  and  his  successful  work 
as  an  Administrator  which  extended  from  the 
autumn  of  1898  when  he  became  Governor  of 
Santiago,  until  the  spring  of  1914  when  he 
ceased  to  be  Chief  of  Staff  of  the  United  States 
army. 

At  the  present  moment  it  is  not  any  one  of 
these  three  phases  of  his  life  that  have  been 
terminated  which  interests  us  most.  Much  more 
vital  to  his  countrymen  is  the  fourth  and  most 
important  period  in  his  career,  which  has  not 
yet  reached  its  zenith — that  is  his  leadership  as 
an  unflinching  defender  of  Republicanism  against 
the  assaults  of  Autocracy  on  one  side  and  Com- 
munism on.the  other;  as  the  principal  upholder 
and  prophet  of  Americanism  against  the  two  ex- 
tremes of  Prussianism  and  Bolshevism,  and  as 
the  staunch  advocate  of  Patriotism  against  In- 
ternationalism. 

[281] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Our  people  did  not  begin  to  appreciate  the  value 
of  Leonard  Wood's  leadership  in  the  cause  of 
Americanism  until  about  191 3;  nevertheless,  it 
became  a  vital  influence  much  earlier. 

His  distrust  of  Germany  and  his  antagonism 
to  the  Prussian  system  began  as  far  back  as 
1902,  at  which  time  he  attended  the  Imperial 
German  Army  maneuvers  as  special  representa- 
tive of  the  United  States.  There  his  keen  mind 
received  its  first  warning  of  the  trend  of  events 
which  finally  culminated  in  the  World  War. 

Nearly  every  one  now  realizes  that  the  Kaiser 
and  his  military  clique  had  for  decades  been  plan- 
ning and  preparing  a  general  war,  which  taking 
the  family  of  nations  by  surprise,  should  con- 
quer the  world,  and  be  the  logical  sequence  to 
Germany's  ruthless  conquests  of  1866,  1867  and 
1870.  By  such  a  war  the  Kaiser  hoped  to  extend 
Prussian  ideals  and  influence  over  all  nations  of 
political  or  industrial  importance. 

In  the  light  of  after  events,  it  seems  incredible 
that  the  countries  threatened  should  have  been  so 
blind  to  the  ultimate  purpose  of  Germany's 
colossal  military  preparations. 

The  Kaiser,  realizing  the  futility  of  any  at- 
tempt to  conceal  his  country's  great  military  ex- 
pansion, expended  himself  in  a  shrewd  effort  to 
camouflage  its  ultimate  purpose.  To  achieve  this 
end,  he  exhibited  his  army  at  every  opportunity, 
and  loudly  boasted  of  its  might  to  the  very  peo- 
ple against  whom  it  was  ultimately  to  be  let  loose. 

[282] 


THE  CONSERVATOR   OF   AMERICANISM 

He  successfully  applied,  on  a  larger  scale,  the 
psychological  principle,  so  cleverly  illustrated  in 
one  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe's  detective  stories,  where 
a  man  skillfully  conceals  a  valuable  document 
from  the  police,  who  are  searching  for  it,  by 
hanging  it  in  plain  sight  on  the  wall. 

The  Kaiser  proclaimed  that  all  these  gigantic 
preparations  were  intended  merely  as  a  protection 
for  his  "peace-loving  Vaterland"  against  possible 
attacks  from  France,  and  we  believed  him  despite 
the  fact  that  republican  France  had  only  one-half 
the  population  of  Imperial  Germany. 

Each  year  Wilhelm  II  invited  the  rulers  and 
leaders  of  Russia  and  Great  Britain  to  witness 
the  maneuvers  of  his  armies.  At  such  times,  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  entertainment  and  con- 
quest of  his  distinguished  guests,  whose  suspi- 
cions he  disarmed  by  the  most  flattering  personal 
attentions,  and  by  repeated  assertions  of  inter- 
national friendship  and  pacific  intentions. 

So  successful  was  his  stratagem,  that  he  com- 
pletely blinded  the  vast  majority  of  the  Slavic 
and  Anglo-Saxon  peoples  and  neutralized  any 
considerable  attempt  at  preparedness  on  the  part 
of  the  nations  threatened;  among  all  their 
royal  personages  and  military  leaders  who  en- 
joyed the  Kaiser's  lavish  hospitality  and  were 
recipients  of  his  flattering  attention,  there  were 
only  two  whose  perceptions  were  not  befogged, 
but  who  saw  clearly  through  the  curtain  of  sub- 
'terfuge  back  to  the  naked  truth  behind.    Among 

[283] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

the  dignitaries  who  attended  the  German  maneu- 
vers in  1902  were  Field  Marshal  Earl  Roberts, 
fresh  from  his  military  and  administrative  tri- 
umphs in  South  Africa;  and  Major-General 
Leonard  Wood,  just  back  from  like  successes  in 
Cuba.  The  records  of  their  public  services  were 
strikingly  similar.  Before  meeting,  each  had 
felt  admiration  for  the  work  of  the  other;  and 
after  meeting,  they  found  themselves  kindred 
spirits.* 

As  they  stood  together  on  the  plains  of 
Prussia,  watching  the  seemingly  endless  hosts  of 
German  soldiers,  they  first  cautiously  sounded 
one  another  as  to  the  inference  each  drew  from 
the  pageant,  but  presently  came  to  a  reciprocal 
confidence  and  complete  mutual  understanding. 

It  developed  that  one  conclusion  was  common 
to  them  both:  that  this  mighty  army  was  never 
collected,  trained  and  maintained  for  France 
alone,  but  that  world  conquest  was  its  ultimate 
aim,  in  the  path  of  which  stood  both  Great  Brit- 
ain and  the  United  States. 

The  Prussian  Junkers  looked  upon  these  two 
"Englander"  with  only  half  concealed  contempt, 
believing  all  Americans  and  Britons  to  be  stupid 
and  thick-headed  where  Weltpolitik  was  con- 
cerned. 

*  Captain  Halstead  Dorey  (now  Colonel  Dorey,  D.  S.  C, 
D.  S.  M.,  Officer  of  the  Legion  d'Honneur,  Croix  de  Guerre) 
was  General  Wood's  aide  in  1902  at  the  German  Maneuvers, 
and  gave  the  author  the  details  of  the  relationship  between 
Wood  and  Roberts. 

[284] 


THE  CONSERVATOR    OF   AMERICANISM 

The  Kaiser  was  not  astute  enough  to  realize 
that  these  two  silent  men,  with  analytical  minds 
and  unflatterable  temperaments,  were  penetrat- 
ing to  the  very  heart  of  his  schemes  and  discus- 
sing the  means  to  circumvent  them,  as  day  after 
day  throughout  the  autumn  weeks  they  watched 
the  "war  play"  of  his  numerous  army  corps. 

Their  very  taciturnity  seemed  to  the  voluble 
Emperor  a  mark  of  dullness.  Their  reserve 
would  have  been  a  warning  to  a  less  self-ab- 
sorbed mortal,  but  the  Kaiser,  deceived  by  his 
egotism,  believed  he  was  producing  upon  them 
the  impression  he  desired.  Even  when  General 
Wood  refused  the  order  of  the  Black  Eagle, 
highest  and  most  prized  of  Prussian  decorations, 
the  Emperor  failed  to  take  the  warning  which 
would  have  been  plain  to  any  man  less  blinded  by 
self-conceit;  especially  when  Wood  accepted  the 
decoration  of  Grand  Officer  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor  from  Republican  France. 

Day  after  day,  Roberts  and  Wood  watched  the 
mighty  hosts  of  the  German  War  Lord  rehears- 
ing the  attack  upon  the  world  which  was  being 
tested  and  re-tested  until  "the  day"  when  it 
should  finally  be  pronounced  invincible  and  irre- 
sistible. 

They  noted  that  each  German  division  was  as 
responsive  to  the  control  of  its  commanding  gen- 
eral as  a  well  trained  horse  to  the  hand  of  its 
master.  Each  button  on  the  tunic  of  every  Ger- 
man private  was  speckless. 

[285] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

The  two  farsighted  Anglo-Saxon  leaders 
gradually  perceived  that  a  race  for  supremacy 
had  been  started,  not  merely  between  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  and  Teutons,  but  a  more  farreaching 
struggle  between  the  two  antagonistical  systems 
of  Republicanism  and  Prussianism. 

These  first  impressions  were  later  further  con- 
firmed by  visits  to  subsequent  Imperial  German 
annual  maneuvers. 

Roberts  and  Wood  found  themselves  in  com- 
plete accord  as  to  the  danger  which  threatened 
their  nations,  and  were  agreed  as  to  the  neces- 
sary measures  to  meet  it. 

With  both  of  them,  to  see  a  duty  was  to  under- 
take it.  Each  returned  to  his  own  country  to 
begin  the  long  and  seemingly  hopeless  struggle 
to  make  his  people  realize  the  oncoming  menace 
of  Germany's  military  expansion  and  growing 
ambition. 

The  whole  world  knows  how  their  warnings 
were  met  with  public  indifference  or  ridicule, 
how  they  also  encountered  repeated  official  re- 
buffs. Nevertheless,  steadfastly  and  unfalter- 
ingly, they  not  only  sounded  the  note  of  warn- 
ing, but  also  used  every  means  in  their  power  to 
remedy  defects  in  their  country's  defenses. 

In  the  end  they  were  responsible  for  the  sav- 
ing of  the  Republicanism  they  loved,  for  al- 
though they  were  not  able  to  achieve  any  ade- 
quate military  preparedness  in  either  Great  Brit- 
ain or  the  United  States  before  the  conflict  be- 

[286] 


THE  CONSERVATOR   OF    AMERICANISM 

gan,  they  nevertheless  did  so  prepare  the  public 
mind  for  universal  military  service,  that  when 
the  dire  emergency  finally  came,  both  nations 
accepted  it  without  fatal  delay. 

Many  people  have  criticized  Leonard  Wood 
for  appealing  directly  to  the  American  people  in 
his  campaign  for  preparedness  and  American- 
ism, and  maintained  that  he  ought  to  have  con- 
fined himself  to  formal  recommendations  made 
exclusively  through  official  channels  to  the  War 
Department. 

It  is,  however,  important  to  note  the  fact  that 
for  ten  years  after  his  first  historic  interview 
with  Earl  Roberts,  he  did  actually  adhere  strictly 
to  official  channels,  and  made  his  recommenda- 
tions only  through  reports  to  the  War  Depart- 
ment, where  they  were  invariably  pigeon-holed. 

Throughout  the  decade  from  1902  to  191 1  his 
clear  vision  revealed  to  him  the  extreme  serious- 
ness of  our  situation;  in  proof  of  which,  his  rec- 
ommendations quoted  in  the  previous  chapter, 
although  they  are  only  fragmentary  selections 
from  his  repeated  appeals  for  action,  yet  give 
ample  evidence  of  the  invariable  accuracy  of  his 
predictions. 

In  the  light  of  after  events,  the  absolute  cer- 
tainty with  which  he  anticipated  the  future  re- 
quirements of  our  Army,  even  to  the  smallest 
and  least  important  detail,  is.  little  short  of  mirac- 
ulous. 

For  instance,  in  191 7  the  United  States  Arm^ 

[287] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

was  at  last  reluctantly  forced  to  admit  the  vital 
importance  of  the  bayonet  and  hand  grenade  in 
modern  warfare.  Up  to  that  time,  it  had  stub- 
bornly refused  to  consider  the  development  of 
the  bayonet  and  the  adoption  of  the  grenade,  yet 
as  early  as  1905  Wood  had  begun  to  advocate  the 
use  of  these  weapons.  At  that  date,  while  still 
in  the  Philippines,  he  made  the  following  recom- 
mendation to  the  War  Department: 

"A  suitable  type  of  hand  grenade  should  be 
developed  and  made  available  for  use  when  re- 
quired. Hand  grenades  have  been  frequently 
much  needed  in  service  against  Moros,  and  recent 
experience  shows  that  they  will  play  an  important 
part  in  future  wars.  Thus  far  it  has  been  im- 
possible to  secure  from  the  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment a  suitable  hand  grenade.  However,  efforts 
are  being  made  to  secure  samples  of  those  used 
in  the  recent  Russo-Japanese  war.  .  .  . 

"The  present  bayonet  training  is  of  little  value 
except  as  a  physical  exercise.  The  men  know 
very  little  of  the  possibilities  of  the  weapon,  and 
never  will  until  they  are  given  the  material  to 
practice  with,  and  are  put  through  a  course  of 
instruction  by  competent  instructors.  Each  com- 
pany of  infantry  should  have  at  least  six  com- 
plete sets  of  fencing  equipment  for  this  instruc- 
tion." 

During  the  author's  service  in  France,  in  191 7 
and  19 1 8,  he  learned  to  appreciate  the  great 
value  of  the  12-gauge  repeating  shot-gun,  loaded 

[288] 


us* 


THE  KAISER  LEONARD  \Y 


OOD  EARL  ROBERTS 


AT  THE  GERM  AX   MAXEUVRES  OF    1902 


"Not  too  proud  to  fight ! 
AT  PLATTSBURG 


Watching  the  Plattshurgers  at  drill 


General  Wood  began  the  training  of  his  mounted  troops  in  spite  of  the  lack  of  horses. 


Typical  reserve  officers  in  field  uniform 
AT  CAMP  FUNSTON 


AT  GARY 


AT  THE  TIME   OF  THE   BOSTON   POLICE 
STRIKE 


[289 


THE  CONSERVATOR   OF   AMERICANISM 

with  buckshot,  for  use  in  close  action  in  raids  or 
in  holding  outposts.  This  gun,  although  simply 
invaluable,  was  only  issued  late  in  the  war,  after 
repeated  demands  for  it  had  been  made  upon  the 
Ordnance  Department.  And  even  then,  we 
could  never  obtain  them  in  anything  like  suffi- 
cient quantities.  We  seldom  had  more  than  two 
guns  for  an  infantry  battalion,  when  at  least  a 
score  would  have  been  useful. 

When  we  did  secure  them,  they  were  rendered 
extremely  unreliable  because  only  paper  ammu- 
nition was  furnished,  which,  under  service  condi- 
tions, in  the  rain  and  mud  of  France,  frequently 
became  wet;  it  then  swelled  and  refused  to  func- 
tion smoothly  through  the  mechanism  of  the  gun, 
which  frequently  jammed  at  the  most  critical 
moments. 

After  my  return  from  the  A.  E.  F.,  I  was 
astonished,  while  reading  General  Wood's  re- 
ports as  Commander  of  the  Philippine  Division, 
written  in  1906,  to  come  across  the  following 
passage : 

"It  is  recommended  that  each  company  be  fur- 
nished with  four  12-gauge  repeating  shotguns, 
with  a  reasonable  supply  of  buckshot  cartridges 
with  metallic  shells.  These  metallic  shells  now 
issued  to  the  constabulary,  in  this  department, 
are  of  excellent  type,  made  of  cheap  composition 
and  cost  little  more  than  paper  shells.  The  paper 
cartridge  is  unsafe,  as,  in  a  damp  climate,  it  is 

[289] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

liable  to  swell  and  stick  and  throw  the  gun  out  of 
action  at  a  critical  moment. 

"The  repeating  shotgun,  loaded  with  buckshot, 
is  most  valuable  for  outpost  duty,  and  for  ad- 
vance guard  in  a  brushy  country.  Soldiers  are 
constantly  rushed,  with  little  or  no  warning,  and 
the  enemy  is  on  them  at  a  very  short  range,  and 
what  is  needed  is  something  to  stop  them  in- 
stantly. For  this  purpose  there  is  no  weapon  in 
our  possession  equal  to  the  shotgun  loaded  with 
buckshot.  .  .  ." 

General  Wood's  first  radical  departure  from 
routine  methods  of  gaining  a  hearing  occurred 
in  191 1  when  he  was  Chief  of  Staff.  He  then 
actively  opposed  certain  military  legislation,  pro- 
posed by  Congressman  Hay  of  Virginia,  and 
eventually  caused  its  defeat.  This  proposed  law 
was  not  only  unsound  but  was  clearly  contrary 
to  the  interests  of  the  country. 

In  an  effort  to  punish  Wood  for  his  activity,  a 
bill  was  immediately  concocted  by  Hay  and  intro- 
duced in  Congress  under  the  guise  of  general 
military  legislation.  This  bill  was  framed  with 
the  intention, of  removing  Wood  from  office.  It 
provided  that  any  officer  who  had  not  served  ten 
years  as  an  officer  of  the  line  was  to  be  debarred 
from  holding  the  position  of  Chief  of  Staff.  At 
the  time  the  bill  was  drawn,  it  could  affect  no  gen- 
eral officers  of  the  army  except  Generals  Wood 
and  Funston,  neither  of  whom  were  West  Point- 

[290] 


THE  CONSERVATOR   OF  AMERICANISM 

ers,  and  neither  exclusively  regular  army  officers, 
either  in  spirit  or  training. 

Senator  Root,  in  opposing  the  bill,  remarked 
that:  "The  provision  could  not  better  accomplish 
its  purpose  if  it  read  that  no  man  whose  initials 
are  L.  W.  shall  be  Chief  of  Staff." 

Four  years  later,  in  191 5,  under  a  Democratic 
Administration,  after  Wood  had  been  relieved 
as  Chief  of  Staff  and  was  therefore  no  longer  in 
a  position  to  checkmate  his  scheme,  Hay  suc- 
ceeded in  having  his  measures  passed  by  a  Dem- 
ocratic Congress,  and  his  bill  was  responsible, 
more  than  any  other  legislative  factor,  for  Amer- 
ica's unpreparedness  in  the  great  war. 

In  the  light  of  after  events,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  it  was  a  Democratic  politician  who 
first  dislodged  Wood  from  the  groove  of  ortho- 
dox official  reports  and  forced  him — realizing  his 
country's  danger — to  adopt  the  method  of  direct 
appeal  to  the  American  public. 

From  that  time  he  became  increasingly  prom- 
inent as  an  advocate  of  adequate  preparedness, 
and  a  defender  of  the  ideals  of  Americanism. 

"There  are  many  things  man  cannot  buy,"  he 
said,  "and  one  of  them,  is  Time.  It  takes  time 
to  organize  and  prepare.  Time  will  be  found 
only  in  periods  of  peace.  Modern  war  gives 
no  time  for  preparation.  Its  approach  is 
that  of  the  avalanche  and  not  that  of  the  glacier. 
God  has  given  us  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear,  and 
intelligence  and  memory  to  gather  and  to  hold 

[291] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

something  of  the  lessons  of  the  past.  If  we  fail 
to  make  use  of  these  means  of  protection  which 
have  been  given  us,  and  simply  say  that  because 
certain  things  are  disagreeable  they  are  to  be  dis- 
regarded, if  we  make  no  adequate  preparation 
and  neglect  the  evidence  of  our  senses,  we  can 
expect  help  neither  from  God  nor  man  and  the 
fault  will  be  our  own." 

It  was  characteristic  of  his  energy,  as  well  as 
of  his  devotion  to  his  Country,  that  he  was  not 
content  to  let  the  matter  rest  with  a  single  state- 
ment,— a  sort  of  verbal  alibi.  He  continued  his 
attack,  and  his  epigrams  upon  preparedness  be- 
came famous  from  coast  to  coast;  he  used  to 
say:  "The  captain  of  a  ship,  when  he  puts  out 
to  sea,  does  not  prepare  his  life  boats  to  over- 
come the  power  of  any  particular  storm  but 
makes  ready  for  any  emergency  which  may 
arise." 

Once  his  fighting  blood  was  up,  it  was  inevit- 
able that  before  long  he  should  add  action  to 
epigram,  and  his  best-known  activity  took  the 
form  of  the  "Plattsburg  Movement."  The  first 
two  officers'  training  camps  were  initiated  by  him 
in  the  summer  of  1913,  while  he  was  still  Chief 
of  Staff  of  the  U.  S.  Army, — he  ceased  to  be 
Chief  of  Staff  early  in  1914.  One  of  these  camps 
was  located  at  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
other  at  Monterey,  California.  Their  student 
personnel  was  largely  drawn  from  the  universi- 

[292] 


THE  CONSERVATOR   OF   AMERICANISM 

ties,  because  Wood  realized  what  splendid  officer 
material  they  contained.  In  the  first  year  only 
222  attended  the  two  camps,  but  they  represented 
twenty-seven  universities. 

General  Wood  explained  their  inauguration  in 
the  following  words: — "The  ultimate  object  is 
not  in  any  way  military  aggrandizement,  but  to 
provide  in  some  degree  a  means  of  meeting  a 
vital  need  confronting  us  as  a  peaceful,  and  un- 
military  people,  in  order  to  preserve  the  desired 
peace  and  prosperity  through  the  only  safe 
precaution;  more  thorough  preparation  and 
equipment  to  resist  any  effort  to  break  £uch 
peace." 

In  191 5,  he  initiated  a  corresponding  move- 
ment among  young  business  and  professional 
men,  and  the  attendance  at  two  camps  held  at 
Plattsburg,  in  July  and  August  of  that  year,  to- 
taled about  eighteen  hundred,  coming  from  every 
state  in  the  union.  These  men  made  up  the  fa- 
mous First  Plattsburg  Regiment,  a  band  of  cru- 
saders which  included  in  its  ranks  such  men  as 
Robert  Bacon  the  Senior  and  his  sons;  Richard 
Harding  Davis,  George  Wharton  Pepper,  Gren- 
ville  Clark,  William  Cooper  Procter,  John  Pur- 
roy  Mitchel,  Frederick  Huidekoper,  John  Mac- 
Vicar,  Percy  Haughton,  Elihu  Root,  Jr.,  Dwight 
Davis,  Henry  Hooker,  William  Marshall  Bullitt, 
Charles  Whittlessey,  George  Edward  Buxton, 
Redmond  Stewart,  Arthur  Woods,  Charles  E. 
Hughes,    Jr.,    Tomkins    Mcllvaine,    Benjamen 

[293] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Dibblee,  George  Vincent,  Frederick  Alger,  Dud- 
ley Field  Malone,  and  the  four  sons  of  Theodore 
Roosevelt. 

History  will  devote  no  little  attention  to  the 
rise  and  growth  of  the  citizens'  military  prepar- 
edness movement  in  America  from  1913-1917. 
It  is  unique.  Nothing  of  the  sort  has  ever  be- 
fore been  known  in  any  country.  Discouraged 
and  tacitly  disapproved  by  the  administration  in 
power,  this  movement  was  founded  by  the  far- 
sightedness of  one  man,  and  developed  by  his 
inspiring  genius  to  redeem  his  Country. 

He  was  not  only  the  true  prophet  of  American- 
ism, but  in  addition  to  his  prophetic  foresight  he 
also  possessed  qualities  of  administrative  genius 
which  enabled  him  to  win  the  necessary  action 
from  a  country  whose  government  and  the  ma- 
jority of  whose  people  were  at  first  totally  blind 
to  the  truths  so  clearly  revealed  by  him.  He  was 
in  truth  not  merely  "the  speaker  but  the  doer  of 
the  word." 

The  men  whom  Leonard  Wood  attracted  from 
the  universities  and  from  business  and  profes- 
sional life  were  a  carefully  selected  lot,  the  high- 
est type  of  loyal  American  citizens.  Hundreds 
of  them  were  persuaded  to  attend  the  camps  by 
Wood's  own  personal  influence,  expressed  in  pri- 
vate conference  or  in  public  speech. 

He  intended  them  as  a  leaven  which,  after 
their  return  to  their  universities  and  home  cities, 
should  stir  the  great  mass  of  their  fellow-citizens 

l>94] 


THE  CONSERVATOR   OF   AMERICANISM 

to  action.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  effectively, 
it  was  vital  that  these  pioneers  should  be  ac- 
knowledged and  respected  as  leaders  in  their  own 
communities. 

Thus,  for  example,  only  fourteen  men  went 
from  the  entire  Pittsburgh  district  to  the  First 
Training  Regiment  in  191 5,  but  they  included 
such  leaders  among  the  younger  generation  as 
David  A.  Reed,  Alexander  Laughlin,  Jr., 
Harry  Rapelye,  Churchill  Mehard,  Charles 
McKnight,  Jr.,  Charles  du  Puy,  Grant  Curry, 
John  Ricketson,  and  two  sons  of  Senator  William 
Flynn. 

These  men  were  so  inspired  and  impressed  by 
what  they  saw  and  learned  at  Plattsburg  during 
their  month  under  General  Wood,  that  they  went 
back  to  their  home  district,  apostles  of  American- 
ism, and  as  a  result  they  brought  back  with  them 
to  Plattsburg  the  next  year  no  less  than  six  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  converts. 

This  larger  number,  between  the  summer  of 
1916  and  the  spring  of  1917,  so  extended  their 
influence  and  so  molded  public  opinion,  that  when 
the  war  finally  came  in  April,  191 7,  the  Pitts- 
burgh district  was  spiritually  prepared  to  meet  it 
and  heartily  to  endorse  the  draft  act. 

What  happened  in  Pittsburgh  is  typical,  and 
took  place  in  cities  and  towns  throughout  the 
whole  country,  and  in  all  the  universities,  for  the 
ideals  and  aims  of  this  one  patriot  were,  through 

[295] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

the  agency  he  created,  transferred  to  a  whole 
nation. 

Thus  the  people  of  America,  led  by  Wood, 
engaged  voluntarily  and,  in  many  individual 
cases,  at  great  personal  sacrifice  in  a  non-political 
and  essentiallv  unofficial  movement  for  a  return 
to  national  self-respect  and  courageous  Amer- 
icanism. When  the  crisis  finally  arrived,  they 
provided  the  country  with  fifty  thousand  par- 
tially trained  officers,  in  addition  to  her  three 
thousand  regulars,  and  built  up  a  sufficiently 
strong  sentiment  for  universal  service  to  make 
possible  its  enaction  into  law  immediately  after 
the  declaration  of  war. 

Those  of  us  who  attended  Plattsburg  in  191 5 
and  19 1 6,  heard  General  Wood  speak  as  follows 
in  addresses  to  the  students: 

"If  we  are  drawn  into  the  World  War  we  shall 
have  to  raise,  at  the  very  minimum,  an  army  of 
one  million  men.  Such  an  army  will  require  in 
the  neighborhood  of  six  thousand  field  officers, 
and  about  fifty  thousand  company  officers, — cap- 
tains and  lieutenants.  The  entire  number  of  reg- 
ular commissioned  officers  at  present  available 
amounts  to  only  about  three  thousand,  which 
means  that  even  if  every  officer  down  to  the 
youngest  lieutenant  now  in  the  army  were  made 
a  field  officer,  and  were  competent  to  fill  the  posi- 
tion, we  should  still  have  only  half  the  necessary 
supply  of  field  officers,  and  would  have  to  draw 

[296] 


THE  CONSERVATOR   OF   AMERICANISM 

upon  men  like  you  trained  here  at  Plattsburg, 
and  upon  the  National  Guard  for  half  our  field 
officers,  and  for  all  our  company  officers. 

"But  not  all  the  regulars  will  prove  successful 
in  high  office;  this  through  no  fault  of  their  own, 
but  because  the  present  regular  army  system  has 
warped  and  dwarfed  some  of  them  by  its  lack  of 
a  fair  opportunity  for  growth  and  development. 
The  average  officer,  who  spends  most  of  his  life 
in  small  isolated  army  posts,  cannot  be  expected 
to  have  learned  the  art  of  leading  a  regiment  or 
a  brigade. 

"The  test  of  the  regular  army  in  warfare  will 
be  whether  it  will  or  will  not  be  able  to  appreciate 
its  own  weaknesses.  Many  of  its  officers  will 
prove  less  competent  to  lead  troops,  or  to  serve 
on  the  general  staff,  than  many  civilian  officers 
who  have  had  only  six  months'  military  experi- 
ence, but  who  have  in  civil  life  had  experience  in 
handling  large  affairs. 

"If  the  regular  army  early  realizes  this  truth, 
and  makes  merit  the  sole  criterion  for  promotion 
and  responsibility,  it  will  come  out  of  the  war 
with  reputation  greatly  enhanced.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  develops  a  class  or  caste  feeling 
prejudicial  to  reserve  and  militia  officers  and 
detrimental  to  efficiency,  it  will  fail  in  its  mission, 
and  will  come  out  of  the  war  without  friends." 

Unfortunately  for  itself,  the  regular  army, 
during  the  war,  did  not  as  a  whole  sense  what 

[297] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

General  Wood  had  so  clearly  foreseen.  Its 
spirit  was  reactionary  instead  of  progressive. 

The  military  censorship,  to  which  our  Army  in 
France  was  subjected,  most  often  served  to  pro- 
tect our  leaders  and  the  Administration  from 
just  criticism,  and  less  often  to  fulfil  its  ostensible 
purpose  of  depriving  the  Boche  of  information. 
This  censorship  hid  from  people  at  home  what 
was  evident  to  anyone  in  France;  that  the 
strength  of  our  Army  in  Europe  was  not  in  the 
regular  officers  of  whom  we  had  the  right  to 
expect  so  much ;  but  was  in  the  enlisted  men,  the 
pick  of  our  100,000,000  people,  the  youth  and 
vigor  of  our  nation. 

The  greatest  weakness  of  our  Army  in  Europe 
was  the  mental  rigidity  of  that  type  of  regular  of- 
ficer who  could  not  realize  that  a  new  order  of 
military  things  was  ushered  in  when  America 
adopted  universal  service  and  the  draft.  One  of 
his  most  noticeable  characteristics  was  his  im- 
mediate and  autocratic  resentment  against  any- 
thing even  approaching  constructive  criticism 
from  civilian  sources.  This  type  of  regular 
seemed  incapable  of  perceiving  what  Wood  saw 
clearly,  namely  that  when  the  army  became  the 
people  the  autocratic  discipline  of  America's  old 
professional  standing  army  would  have  to  give 
place  to  a  new  and  more  republican  discipline ; — ■ 
a  discipline  more  like  that  of  the  democratic  army 
of  France,  and  of  our  own  American  Navy. 

[298] 


THE   CONSERVATOR   OF   AMERICANISM 

In  past  decades  at  West  Point,  the  discipline 
had  required  that  no  fault  be  allowed  to  go  un- 
detected or  unpunished,  little  being  said  about 
making  certain  that  no  good  work  should  go  un- 
recognized and  unpraised. 

The  cadets  of  the  entering  class, — the  "beasts" 
as  the  upper-classmen  called  them, — were  looked 
down  upon  as  an  inferior  caste;  and  the  West 
Point  graduate  when  he  became  an  officer  was 
only  too  often  inclined  to  regard  his  enlisted  men 
as  inferiors  instead  of  as  subordinates. 

If  Leonard  Wood  had  had  his  way  this  situa- 
tion would  have  been  modified  before  the  war 
instead  of  after  its  termination.  Better  late 
than  never,  however ;  and  now  at  last,  as  a  result 
of  the  war  and  after  great  travail,  the  end  of  the 
old  order  is  in  sight.  The  more  progressive  reg- 
ular officers,  many  of  whom  have  always  held 
sound  views  on  this  issue,  have  taken  up  the  fight 
against  the  old  reactionary  order  of  things. 
Such  men  as  Douglas  MacArthur,  the  new  super- 
intendent at  West  Point,  and  Charles  Sum- 
merall,  Frank  Parker,  George  Moseley,  Dennis 
Nolan,  Charles  Kilbourne,  Halstead  Dorey,  Gor- 
don Johnston,  William  Lassiter,  William  Weigel, 
Edwin  Glenn,  and  a  score  of  others  are  earnestly 
and  unselfishly  striving  for  constructive  read- 
justment. All  these  men  had  brilliant  records 
abroad  and  most  of  them  have,  at  one  time  or 
another,  served  under  Wood  and  become  inspired 
by  his  splendid  Americanism. 

[299] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

While  the  building  up  of  democratic  spirit  and 
discipline  in  our  army  was  not  begun  as  soon  as 
Leonard  Wood  had  desired,  he  did  nevertheless 
bring  about  an  essential  re-awakening  of  Amer- 
ican self-respect,  and  a  general  understanding  of 
the  necessity  for  conscription. 

In  the  light  of  after  events  it  needs  no  argu- 
ment to  prove  that  without  these  fifty  thousand 
reserve  officers  partially  trained  by  Wood,  with- 
out the  system  of  officer-training  worked  out 
experimentally  at  Plattsburg,  and  without  the 
immediate  enaction  of  the  draft  law  made  possi- 
ble by  his  campaign  of  education,  Germany 
would  have  been  able  to  crush  France  and  Britain 
before  America  could  arrive,  and  then  to  recoup 
herself  could  and  would  have  exacted  gigantic 
tribute  from  us  and  extended  over  the  whole 
world  the  Prussian  philosophy  of  government 
and  morals. 

This  frightful  calamity  would  have  overtaken 
us  but  for  the  genius  of  Leonard  Wood,  who 
accomplished  his  purpose  in  the  face  of  and  in 
spite  of  steadfast  opposition  from  those  in  au- 
thority. 

In  1916  several  of  our  universities  expressed 
the  gratitude  which  America,  finally  aroused,  felt 
for  Leonard  Wood  by  conferring  upon  him 
LL.D.  degrees.  The  one  from  Princeton  was 
presented  in  the  following  terms: 

"In  our  defenseless  state  he  has  sounded  the 
reveille  to  waken  a  slumbering  nation  from  its 

[300] 


THE   CONSERVATOR    OF   AMERICANISM 

dream  of  security,  bidding  us  rise  and  take 
our  place  like  men  to  save  our  freedom  and 
help  to  save  the  imperiled  freedom  of  the 
world." 


[301] 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE    WORLD    WAR 

As  soon  as  he  perceived  that  the.  United  States 
was  drifting  on  an  irresistible  current  and  would 
sooner  or  later,  willing  or  unwilling,  prepared  or 
unprepared,  inevitably  be  drawn  into  the  World 
War,  he  began  diligently  to  investigate  the  new. 
methods  of  warfare. 

As  the  ranking  General  of  the  Army,  it  was 
only  natural  that  he  should  take  it  for  granted 
that  he  would  be  called  upon  to  bear  an  important 
part  in  the  eventual  struggle.  With  his  usual 
instinct  to  make  himself  ready  for  any  duty  that 
lay  before  him,  he  asked  leave  to  go  to  France, 
almost  as  soon  as  the  war  began,  to  study  at  first- 
hand the  new  tactical  conditions  which  were 
there  developing,  and  which  differed  radically 
from  anything  heretofore  taught  in  our  own 
Army. 

LThis  permission  was  refused,  but  he  did  the 
next  best  thing  and  devoted  himself  to  an  untir- 
ing study  of  all  war  documents  upon  which  he 
could  lay  hands,  and  to  interviews  with  foreign 
officers  visiting  America;  when  the  war  forced 
European  soldiers  to  re-cast  their  old  ideas  of 

[302] 


THE  WORLD  WAR 

military  operations,  while  America  persisted  in 
ignoring  all  the  new  ideas,  he  made  it  his  profes- 
sional duty  and  his  personal  pride  to  keep  abreast 
of  the  times. 

After  America  had  finally  declared  war,  it  be- 
gan to  be  evident  that  it  was  the  intention  to  keep 
Wood  permanently  in  America.  His  friends 
were  indignant;  they  felt  that  they  had  a  just 
grievance.  But  Wood  wasted  no  time  nursing 
grievances;  he  kept  his  temper  and  devoted  his 
entire  energy  and  ability  to  the  accomplishment 
of  the  relatively  unimportant  tasks  set  for  him. 

"When  in  191 8  he  wras  sent  on  a  short  visit 
to  France,"  says  John  Bruce  Mitchell,  "to 
make  a  quick  study  of  the  front,  to  bring 
back  his  experiences  for  the  benefit  of  men 
training  in  the  United  States,  he  went  into 
an  extremely  delicate  situation.  The  French 
and  British  military  authorities  realized  that 
he  was  the  foremost  military  man  in  Amer- 
ica, yet  he  was  not  in  command  of  the  Amer- 
ican Expeditionary  Force.  They  realized  that 
he  knew  more  about  European  warfare,  due 
to  a  first-hand  study  of  the  French  and  Ger- 
man armies,  than  did  any  man  in  the  American 
army.  They  knew  that  the  British  War  Minis- 
try was  particularly  worried  because  Leonard 
Wood  had  been  relegated  to  the  mere  role  of 
division  commander.  They  realized  that  his 
presence  in  France  would  be  embarrassing  to  the 
Commander  and  Chief  of  Staff  of  the  American 

[303] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

army.  Leonard  Wood  had  an  international  rep- 
utation. He  had  been  the  guest  of  the  French 
army  at  maneuvers.  He  knew  the  French  Pres- 
ident, and  he  was  a  Grand  Officer  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor.  He  knew  all  the  French  Generals; 
Lloyd  George  wanted  him  to  come  to  England. 
It  was  a  chance  that  a  man  who  could  not  efface 
self,  who  was  not  a  diplomat,  might  have  seized, 
but  the  whole  time  Leonard  Wood  was  in  France 
he  simply  obeyed  orders.  There  was  not  a  word 
out  of  him.  He  sought  to  see  no  one,  except  in 
the  line  of  duty.  The  only  time  his  name  ap- 
peared in  the  newspapers  was  when  he  stood 
near  a  field  gun  which  burst,  wounding  him; 
When  he  came  out  of  the  hospital,  and  sailed 
back  to  America,  correspondents  begged  him  for 
interviews.     Leonard  Wood  said  nothing/' 

In  July,  1918,  his  Division,  the  89th,  was 
ordered  to  France  and  reached  the  port  of  de- 
barkation. When  Wood's  baggage  was  already 
on  ship-board  an  order  came  from  Washington 
relieving  him  of  command.  This  ended  the  last 
hope  of  his  serving  abroad.  The  disappointment 
of  his  men  was  tremendous.  He  himself  realized 
this  and  also  realized  that  they  were  certain  to 
consider  the  order  an  injustice,  not  only  to  him 
but  to  themselves,  and  might  let  this  make  them 
less  enthusiastic  in  action.  He,  therefore,  called 
together  the  officers,  and  said :  "I  am  going  back 
to  Camp  Funston  to-morrow,  where  I  shall  give 

[304] 


THE  WOULD  WAR 

the  best  that  is  in  me  to  the  training  of  the  new 
recruits  who  are  being  ordered  there.  Do  not 
concern  yourselves  with  my  case,  but  get  your 
minds  on  winning  the  war.  If  you  would  please 
me,  play  your  part  cheerfully  and  well.  That 
means,  when  in  action  never  fail  to  take  your  ob- 
jective, and  never  be  late  on  your  objective.,, 

After  the  armistice  the  division,  then  veteran 
of  many  battles,  proudly  sent  him  this  message: 
"We  have  never  failed  to  take  our  objective ;  we 
never  arrived  late  on  our  objective." 

During  the  war,  every  time  things  went  wrong 
with  the  general  organization  of  our  divisions 
abroad  or  of  our  supply  services  at  home, — and 
more  went  wrong,  at  greater  sacrifice  of  life  and 
treasure  than  has  yet  been  revealed,  men  who 
knew  Wood's  capacity,  chafing  under  the  ineffi- 
ciency which  they  were  powerless  to  remedy, 
sighed  for  his  organizing  power  and  regretted 
that  America's  army  in  France  was  denied  the 
services  of  her  greatest  administrator. 

"The  powers  that  be"  did  not  underestimate 
Wood's  ability;  on  the  contrary,  they  realized  it 
all  too  well.  They  knew  that  if  he  were  allowed 
half  a  chance  to  serve  his  country  in  a  manner 
commensurate  with  his  ability  he  would  over- 
shadow them  all. 

But  in  not  daring  either  to  send  him  to  Europe 
or  to  elevate  him  above  a  subordinate  position  at 

[305] 


LEONARD  WOOD 


home,  they  unconsciously  paid  him  the  highest 
compliment  in  their  power;  for  their  action, — 
and  actions  always  speak  louder  than  words, — is 
in  itself  an  admission  that  Wood  is  greater  than 
any  of  them. 


&Q5J 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

CONCLUSION 

The  two  objections  which  are  most  often  ad- 
vanced against  Leonard  Wood  are: 
That  he  is  too  much  of  a  military  man ; 
That  he  is  not  enough  of  a  military  man. 

These  two  accusations  are  of  course  not  voiced 
by  the  same  set  of  people,  nor  is  either  of  them 
advanced  by  any  great  number,  but  one  or  the 
other  is  nevertheless  always  spoken  of  whenever 
Leonard  Wood  is  discussed  by  his  ill-wishers. 

Whenever  he  is  mentioned  as  a  possibility  for 
high  military  office  his  opponents  in  the  regular 
army  always  say,  "Oh,  he  is  no  soldier." 

When  he  is  considered  as  a  candidate  for  the 
governorship  of  a  province  or  for  some  other 
civil  office  of  importance  his  political  enemies  cry 
out,  "But  he  is  a  soldier." 

It  is  important  to  discover  w7ho  perpetuates 
these  two  ideas  and  from  what  motives  they  are 
kept  alive.  Since  both  charges  cannot  be  true, 
we  shall  be  able  to  kill  at  least  one  of  them;  or 
since  two  equal  forces  acting  in  opposition  neu- 
tralize one  another,  we  may  even  be  able  to  re- 
move both  from  serious  consideration. 

[307] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

Is  Leonard  Wood  too  much  of  a  military  man 
to  be  entrusted  with  further  high  administrative 
functions?  Yes,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Bolshe- 
vists, pacifists,  pro-Germans,  I.W.W.'s  and  law- 
breakers he  is  exactly  that.  He  is  too  military 
for  those  who  would  prefer  to  have  no  loyal  effi- 
cient force  to  uphold  the  law  and  preserve  the 
honor  of  our  country.  He  was  too  much  of  a 
military  man  to  suit  those  who  preached  peace  at 
any  price  and  wished  us  to  shirk  our  responsibil- 
ities in  the  face  of  repeated  outrages  from  Ger- 
many and  Mexico.  He  was  too  military  not  to 
realize  America's  dangerous  state  of  unpre- 
paredness  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  great 
war,  and  to  make  whatever  effort  lay  in  his 
power  to  remedy  the  defective  condition  of  our 
national  defenses. 

To  him  and  to  Theodore  Roosevelt  we  owe  it 
that  we  did  not  enter  the  war  too  late  to  save  our 
ideals  from,  Prussian  domination. 

The  cooperation  we  finally  gave,  arrived  barely 
in  time  to  save  us  and  them  from  German  rule, 
and  then  only  because  these  two  great  patriots 
had  been  wise  enough  to  realize  our  danger  and 
powerful  enough  to  re-awaken  the  conscience  of 
the  American  people. 

The  help  we  gave  our  allies  came  in  the  nick 
of  time  to  save  democracy  only  because  Theodore 
Roosevelt  by  voice  and  pen  stirred  his  country- 
men to  action  and  because  Leonard  Wood  dem- 
onstrated our  acute  need  for  preparedness. 

[308] 


CONCLUSION 

Wood  was  also  too  military  to  suit  the  Ger- 
mans. They  knew  from  their  spies  in  America 
how  in  191 5  and  19 16  he  was  rousing  and  pre- 
paring the  American  people,  and  when  we  finally 
entered  the  war  they  naturally  hoped  that  any 
one  but  Wood  might  be  sent  to  France  in  com- 
mand. They  had  of  course  no  great  opinion  of 
the  purely  military  skill  of  any  American;  know- 
ing, as  they  knew  every  detail  of  our  unprepared- 
ness,  that  none  of  our  officers  had  ever  maneu- 
vered even  a  division.  But  they  also  knew  that 
to  execute  an  attack  is  only  a  very  small  part  of 
the  responsibility  of  a  Commander-in-Chief. 
They  knew  that  in  converting  millions  of  raw 
recruits  into  an  effective  army,  the  chief  requisite 
is  organizing  ability  and  that  a  great  executive  is 
much  rarer  than  a  skillful  tactical  commander. 
They  were  willing  to  concede  that  America  might 
possibly  have  better  troop  leaders  than  Wood, 
but  they  were  confident  that  a  truly  great  admin- 
istrator like  Wood  could  not  occur  twice  in  one 
country  in  one  generation. 

Yes,  for  the  Germans,  General  Wood  was  de- 
cidedly too  military,  but  he  was  not  too  military 
for  the  statesmen  of  Great  Britain  and  France, 
who  repeatedly  and  anxiously  wondered  why  he 
was  not  on  the  Western  Front. 

The  charge  that  Wood  is  not  military  enough 
comes  almost  exclusively  from  certain  of  his  fel- 
low officers  in  the  regular  army, — a  minority  cut 

[309] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

and  dried  in  the  West  Point-Leavenworth  mold. 

This  is  because  he  never  views  public  affairs 
solely  from  the  standpoint  of  the  soldier. 

Moreover,  from  the  very  fact  that  his  early 
education  was  not  military,  his  mind  remains 
flexible  and  receptive  to  any  new  ideas  in  the  art 
of  war. 

Therefore  we  are  led  to  disagree  with  that 
minority  which  thinks  him  not  military  enough. 

We  rejoice  that  Wood  escaped  a  West  Point 
training,  for  the  varied  education,  theoretical 
and  practical,  which  he  did  obtain  left  him  as 
much  of  a  military  man  in  experience,  and  as 
little  of  a  military  man  at  heart,  as  was  George 
Washington.  Both  men  entered  the  army  from 
civil  life,  without  any  special  military  training, 
and  each  resorted  to  military  measures  only  as  a 
last  resort. 

Leonard  Wood's  military  governorship  both  in 
Cuba  and  in  the  Philippines  attracted  the  atten- 
tion and  won  the  admiration  of  all  civilized  coun- 
tries for  the  very  reason  that  his  methods  of 
reorganization  were  based  on  constructive,  hy- 
gienic, legal  and  educational  reforms,  and  were 
not  forced  upon  the  people  by  military  pressure, 
to  which  all  other  colonial  governors  had  found 
it  necessary  to  resort.  Never  before  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  did  any  colonial  administrator 
have  in  his  methods  so  small  an  element  of  mil- 
itary compulsion. 

After  his  governorship  of  Cuba  had  termi- 

[3io] 


CONCLUSION 

nated,  he  was  able  truthfully  to  say :  "Although 
our  government  in  Cuba  was  in  form  a  military 
occupation,  the  Cuban  civil  courts  were  actually 
in  control  from  start  to  finish. " 

Leonard  Wood  is  not  military  enough  to  re- 
press or  oppress  any  people  or  class  struggling 
toward  greater  freedom.  Although  of  long  lin- 
eage and  honorable  ancestry,  he  himself  rose 
from  humble  circumstances,  and  therefore  has 
deep  sympathy  with  and  a  clear  understanding 
of  the  difficulties  which  beset  the  masses  of  our 
people  striving  towards  improved  living  condi- 
tions. 

He  is  ever  firm  in  maintaining  the  law,  but  just 
as  diligent  in  his  efforts  to  bring  about  modifica- 
tions of  laws  which  have  proved  oppressive  to 
the  masses  of  any  country  where  he  has  been  in 
power. 

He  is  not  too  military  for  times  of  peace 
and  harmony,  but  is  military  enough  to  use  force 
as  a  last  resort  whenever  the  safety  of  our  Coun- 
try is  at  stake  and  to  deal  effectively  with  such 
an  emergency  as  a  Bolshevist  revolution.  And, 
above  all,  he  is  a  competent  executive ;  a  business 
man  fitted  to  deal  effectively  with  economic 
readjustments  which  face  our  country.  He  is  by 
training,  ability  and  temperament  America's 
greatest  Administrator. 

When    Wood    entered    Harvard    College    in 

[3"] 


LEONARD  WOOD 

1880,  he  was  without  influential  friends,  with 
no  important  family  connections,  and  without 
any  money  except  what  he  could  himself  earn, 
while  he  was  studying,  yet  before  he  reached  mid- 
dle age,  he  had,  by  sheer  ability  and  indomitable 
courage,  attained  preeminent  success  in  three 
widely  divergent  lines  of  activity. 

As  a  surgeon,  he  was  so  successful  that  he 
became  the  personal  physician  of  two  successive 
Presidents  of  the  United  States,  one  a  Democrat, 
the  other  a  Republican. 

As  a  soldier,  his  record  was,  for  twenty  years, 
the  most  brilliant  of  his  generation  in  the  Army. 

As  a  colonial  administrator,  his  reputation  is 
approached  only  by  that  of  Lord  Milner  in  South 
Africa,  and  by  that  of  Lord  Cromer  in  Egypt. 

But,  after  all,  the  most  important  element  in 
Leonard  Wood's  career  is  not  how  good  a  soldier 
he  is,  nor  how  skillful  a  surgeon,  nor  how  effi- 
cient an  administrator.  What  is,  at  the  present 
moment,  most  vital  is  the  fact  that  his  successive 
triumphs  in  such  widely  divergent  professions, 
each  undertaken  under  hampering  conditions, 
reveal  to  his  countrymen  the  superabundant 
energy,  the  native  ability  and  the  sterling  char- 
acter which  enabled  him  to  rise  to  preeminent 
success  in  every  position  to  which  he  has  been 
called. 

We  are  recording  the  life  of  a  man  whose 
career  is  by  no  means  finished,  but  whose  past 
achievements  give  us  just  grounds  for  complet- 

[312] 


CONCLUSION 

ing  his  biography  with  the  reasonable  prediction 
that  he  will  attain  an  equally  great  success  in  the 
fourth,  final  and  highest  stage  of  his  life's  work, 
which  is  his  present  championship  of  the  ideals 
of  Americanism,  built  on  the  basis  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States. 

A  man's  judgment  in  future  problems  involv- 
ing his  country's  welfare  can  be  fairly  measured 
only  by  the  accuracy  of  his  past  predictions  of 
events  which  have  since  taken  place,  and  not  by 
his  cleverness  in  explaining  away  his  previous 
misconceptions.  A  man's  future  ability  to  serve 
his  nation  can  best- be  estimated  by  the  number 
and  magnitude  of  the  practical  results  he  has 
actually  achieved  in  the  past,  not  by  his  expert- 
ness  in  writing  excuses  for  having  failed  of  such 
attainment. 

Judged  by  these  two  standards,  Leonard 
Wood's  record  is  flawless.  He  has  ever  been  a 
true  prophet  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  poli- 
tical and  military  welfare  of  his  native  land,  its 
allies  and  dependencies.  He  has  never  had  to 
make  excuses,  for  although  the  administrative 
tasks  successfully  allotted  to  him  have  been  vast 
in  scope,  he  has  never  in  any  one  of  them  fallen 
short  of  exceptional  success. 


[313] 


APPENDIX  A 

OPINIONS  BY  ASSOCIATES  OF  LEONARD  WOOD 

General  Lawton,  April  i$th.  1898,  speaking  of  Wood's 
part  in  the  Geronimo  Campaign. 

"I  served  through  the  war  of  the  rebellion  and  in  many 
battles,  but  in  no  instance  do  I  remember  such  devotion 
to  duty  or  such  an  example  of  courage  and  perserverance. 
It  was  mainly  due  to  Captain  Wood's  loyalty  and  resolu- 
tion that  the  expedition  was  successful." 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

On  September  gth,  1886,  during  the  campaign,  Lawton 
had  written: 

"I  desire  to  particularly  invite  the  attention  of  the  de- 
partment commander  to  Asst.  Surg.  Leonard  Wood,  the 
only  officer  who  has  been  with  me  through  the  whole 
campaign.  His  courage,  energy,  and  loyal  support  dur- 
ing the  whole  time,  his  encouraging  example  to  the  com- 
mand when  work  was  the  hardest  and  prospects  darkest, 
his  thorough  confidence  and  belief  in  the  final  success  of 
the  expedition,  and  his  untiring  efforts  to  make  it  so, 
have  placed  me  under  obligations  so  great  that  I  can  not 
even  express  them.  .  .  ." 

$  41  4r  4*  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  speaking  of  the  Geronimo  Cam' 
paign. 

"The  young  doctor,  tall,  broad-chested,  with  his  light- 
yellow  hair  and  blue  eyes,  soon  showed  the  stuff  of 
which  he  was  made.  Hardly  any  of  the  whites,  whether 
soldiers  or  frontiersmen,  could  last  with  him;  and  the 
friendly  Indian  trailers  themselves  could  not  wear  him 
down.  .  .  . 

[315] 


APPENDIX 

"On  expeditions  of  this  kind,  where  the  work  is  so  ex- 
hausting as  to  call  for  the  last  ounce  of  reserve  strength 
and  courage  in  the  man,  only  a  very  high  type  of  officer 
can  succeed.  Wood,  however,  never  called  upon  his  men 
to  do  anything  that  he  himself  did  not  do.  They  ran  no 
risk  that  he  did  not  run ;  they  endured  no  hardship  which 
he  did  not  endure;  intolerable  fatigue,  intolerable  thirst, 
never-satisfied  hunger,  and  the  strain  of  unending  watch- 
fulness against  the  most  cruel  and  dangerous  of  foes ; 
through  all  this  Wood  led  his  men  until  the  final  hour 
of  signal  success.  When  he  ended  the  campaign,  he  had 
won  the  high  regard  of  his  superior  officers  not  merely 
for  courage  and  endurance,  but  for  judgment  and  entire 
trustworthiness.  A  young  man  who  is  high  of  heart, 
clean  of  life,  incapable  of  a  mean  or  ungenerous  action, 
and  burning  with  the  desire  to  honorably  distinguish 
himself  needs  only  the  opportunity  in  order  to  do  good 
work  for  his  country. 

******* 

Commended  for  "gallant  and  hazardous  service,  cour- 
age, and  energy,  encouraging  the  command  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances,  and  for  untiring  efforts  in 
the  campaign  against  hostile  Apache  Indians  in  Sonora, 
Mexico,  during  the  greater  part  of  which  he  commanded 
the  detachment  of  infantry."  {General  Orders,  No.  39, 
Headquarters  of  the  Army,  April  9,  1891.) 

******* 

Leonard  Wood  received  his  Congressional  Medal  of 
Honor  as  a  result  of  the  following  correspondence: 

Inspector-General's  Office, 
Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  July  22,  1894. 
Mat.  J.  G.  Gilmore, 

Assistant  Adjutant-General. 
"Sir:    Referring  to  .  .  .  recommendations  for  brevet 
for  Asst.  Surg.  Leonard  Wood  for  gallant  and  hazardous 
service  while  serving  under  my  command  in  the  Geronimo 

[316] 


APPENDIX 

campaign  ...  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  some  of  the 
conditions  which  then  existed,  and  which  should  form  an 
important  factor  in  considering  the  merit  of  the  service 
of  individuals,  and  which  to  a  great  extent  have  at  this 
late  day  been  lost  sight  of. 

"The  outbreak  of  Geronimo  and  his  band  had  occurred 
more  than  a  year  before  this  campaign  was  inaugurated, 
during  which  time  the  southern  portion  of  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona  "and  northern  Sonora  had  been  completely 
terrorized  and  the  industries  paralyzed  by  this  Indian  and 
his  band.  That  portion  of  the  army  in  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona  had  been  operating  more  or  less  unsuccessfully 
all  of  this  time.  An  expedition  of  Indians  to  the  strong- 
hold of  the  hostiles  had  failed,  and  the  commander  been 
killed.  The  murders  committed  by  the  hostile  Indians 
had  reached  alarming  numbers,  and  their  atrocities  were 
unusual,  revolting,  and  terrorizing.  The  army  were  dis- 
heartened and  discouraged.  The  confidence  of  the  people 
was  shaken  in  their  efficiency  for  this  work.  The  press 
was  loud  and  bitter  in  its  criticisms  df  their  incompetency. 
General  Crook  himself  was  subjected  to  open  insult  when 
traveling  on  the  cars  in  Arizona.  Congress  was  seriously 
considering  the  propriety  of  organizing  a  regiment  of 
frontiersmen,  and  also  authorizing  a  reward  of  $25,000 
for  the  capture  of  this  Indian. 

"Under  these  conditions  the  expedition  I  had  the  honor 
to  command  was  organized  and  entered  upon  its  work. 
While  there  were  plenty  of  good  men  and  officers  willing 
and  desirous  to  undertake  the  difficult  task  set  them,  to 
that  extent  had  their  confidence  in  their  ability  to  success- 
fully accomplish  the  object  been  shaken  that  none  be- 
lieved any  valuable  results  would  be  accomplished,  and 
the  fatigue  and  hardships  of  the  work  soon  overcame  the 
strength  of  the  physically  weak  ones. 

"It  is  in  this  connection  that  I  called  special  attention 
to  First  Lieutenant  and  Assistant-Surgeon  Wood.  He 
was  not  only  willing  and  anxious  to  undertake  the  work 

[317] 


APPENDIX 

of  the  campaign,  but  believed  every  moment  of  the  time 
that  the  issue  would  justify  its  inception,  and  he  never 
lost  an  opportunity,  either  by  his  voice  or  example,  to 
make  it  so.  As  a  medical  officer  he  was  prompt,  attentive, 
and  untiring,  but  what  I  now  refer  to  was  his  work,  in- 
dependent of  and  in  addition  to  his  professional  duties, 
work  which  he  performed  voluntarily  because  of  his  loyal 
soldierly  feeling,  and  courage  and  enthusiasm  in  his 
work. 

"Assistant  Surgeon  Wood  is  entitled  to  consideration 
for  his  energy,  courage,  and  soldierly  example  exhibited 
through  the  whole  campaign.  Among  the  special  or  in- 
dividual instances  I  cite  the  following :  On  the  night  of 
May  29,  1886,  while  on  a  trail  closely  following  the  hos- 
tile Indians,  I  found  it  imperative  to  communicate  with 
General  Miles.  I  endeavored  to  employ  some  men  at  a 
ranch  to  carry  my  message  to  the  railroad,  but  could  not 
induce  them  to  go  because  of  their  fear  of  the  hostiles 
who  were  reported  to  have  sent  a  raiding  party  between 
us  and  the  railroad  to  draw  us  off  the  trail.  Assistant 
Surgeon  Wood  volunteered  to  undertake  the  delivery  of 
the  message,  and  rode  35  miles,  sent  and  received  a  reply 
to  his  message  from  General  Miles,  and  returned  to  camp 
by  7:30  o'clock  a.  m.,  May  30,  having  ridden  70  miles, 
and  then  marched  with  the  command  on  foot  a  distance 
of  32  miles  the  same  day.  .  .  . 

"On  the  night  of  June  30,  near  Sinoquipa,  Sonora,  As- 
sistant Surgeon  Wood,  who  had  voluntarily  accompanied 
the  scouts  along  the  San  Augustin  Mountains  to  look  up 
the  trail  of  the  hostiles,  volunteered  to  go  alone,  after 
four  of  the  scouts  had  refused  to  accompany  him  because 
of  the  danger,  to  Sinoquipa  to  seek  important  informa- 
tion relative  to  a  party  of  hostiles  supposed  to  be  near  the 
town.  Starting  late  in  the  afternoon  in  the  direction 
Sinoquipa  was  supposed  to  lie — the  country  was  unknown 
and  without  trails.  .  .  .  Arrived  at  Sinoquipa  about  9 
p.   m.    One  Mexican  killed  by  these  Indians  and  one 

[318] 


APPENDIX 

wounded  were  brought  in  while  he  was  there.  Starting 
the  same  night  he  returned  alone  to  camp  with  the  infor- 
mation, arriving  about  2  o'clock  a.  m.,  having  traveled  a 
distance  of  about  34  miles. 

"July  2  the  cavalry,  having  become  exhausted,  was  left 
in  camp  to  recuperate,  and  the  expedition  was  continued 
with  infantry  only.  Through  the  severity  of  the  ex- 
posure, and  from  the  great  exertion  required,  only  those 
possessing  great  vitality  and  endurance  could  hold  out 
continuously.  From  this  and  other  causes  my  officers 
became  reduced,  so  that  none  were  left  with  the  infantry. 
Doctor  Wood  volunteered  to  command  them  and  on  July 
2nd  was  assigned  to  their  command.  .  .  .  During  this 
time  the  most  trying  work  of  the  campaign  occured  and 
the  endurance  of  the  command  was  tried  to  its  utmost. 
Assistant  Surgeon  Wood  marched  at  the  head  of  his  men, 
and  by  his  example  made  their  work  possible.  During 
this  time  he  was  bitten  by  a  tarantula.  The  wound  was 
painful  in  the  extreme  and  the  swelling  very  great,  but 
he  continued  to  march  at  the  head  of  his  men,  making  a 
forced  march  of  28  miles  through  an  almost  impassable 
country  during  intensely  hot  weather,  suffering  indescrib- 
able physical  pain,  his  thigh  being  swollen  to  double  its 
normal  size  and  intensely  inflamed. 

"His  fortitude  and  courage  at  this  time  were  something 
beyond  anything  I  had  ever  before  witnessed.  On  this 
day,  July  13th,  the  camp  of  the  hostiles  was  located  by 
the  scouts  on  the  Yaqui  River,  where  it  flows  through 
some  of  the  roughest  portion  of  the  Sierra  Madre.  The 
camp  was  attacked  by  the  scouts  under  Lieutenant  Brown, 
Fourth  Cavalry,  and  the  infantry  commanded  by  Asst. 
Surg.  Leonard  Wood.  The  hostiles  were  completely  sur- 
prised, and  abandoned  their  camp  precipitately,  fleeing 
in  every  direction,  their  camp  and  equipage,  food,  horses, 
and  everything  belonging  to  them  falling  into  our  hands. 
.  .  .  Following  this,  and  brought  about  by  his  suffering 
and  exposure,  Doctor  Wood  was,  about  July  15,  while 

[319] 


APPENDIX 

marching  up  the  Yaqui  River,  stricken  with  fever,  becom- 
ing delirious,  and  in  his  weak  and  exhausted  condition  I 
despaired  of  saving  his  life,  but  constructed  a  travois  and 
determined  to  drag  him  to  some  ranch,  if  I  could  find  one, 
and  there  leave  him.  Before  starting,  however,  he  re- 
gained his  reason,  refused  to  be  sent  back,  was  placed 
on  a  mule,  and  carried  along  until  he  was  again  able  to 
assume  his  usual  duties  in  command  of  the  infantry.  .  .  . 

"August  29th  to  31st,  Geronimo  and  his  band  having 
conditionally  surrendered  to  me  and  having  moved  his 
people  to  a  point  near  and  under  the  protection  of  my 
camp,  pending  the  receipt  of  instructions  from  General 
Miles,  the  Mexican  troops  presented  themselves  in  force 
much  larger  than  mine  and  demanded  the  custody  of  the 
hostiles.  Declining  to  comply,  I  detached  Lieutenant  Gate- 
wood  with  his  interpreter  to  escort  the  prisoners  to 
United  States  territory,  following  with  my  command  as 
soon  as  I  could  safely  move  from  the  Mexicans.  Ac- 
companied by  Assistant  Surgeon  Wood,  I  left  the  camp 
of  my  troops  and  proceeded  to  the  camp  of  the  hostiles. 
My  command,  having  missed  the  trail,  did  not  reach  the 
camp,  and  I  proceeded  to  overtake  them,  leaving  Assis- 
tant Surgeon  Wood  and  Lieutenants  Clay  and  Gatewood 
with  the  hostiles,  they  remaining  two  days  with  them  .  .  . 
at  their  mercy  if  they  had  been  illy  disposed  toward  them. 
Assistant  Surgeon  Wood  was  conspicuous  on  this  occa- 
sion by  preventing  a  possible  misunderstanding  by  the 
exercise  of  coolness  and  good  judgment. 

"In  commending  Assistant  Surgeon  Wood  so  highly  I 
do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  implying  that  he  is  the 
only  one  connected  with  that  campaign  deserving  con- 
sideration. In  my  opinion  he  is  more  deserving  from 
the  fact  that  he  is  the  only  officer  who  participated  in 
the  whole  campaign  from  first  to  last  and  never  lagged 
one  instant  in  his  duty  and  devotion.  I  believe  that  every 
officer  and  soldier  who  took  part  in  that  trying  wot-k  is 
entitled  and,  judged  by  the  merits  of  others  who  have 

[320] 


APPENDIX 

received  consideration  for  like  service,  should  receive 
either  a  brevet  or  a  medal  of  honor,  and  in  some  instances 
both  should  be  bestowed.  .  .  . 

"Very  respectfully, 
"H.  W.  Lawton. 
"Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Inspector-General" 


First  Indorsement 
Headquarters  Department  of  the  East, 
Governors  Island,  N.  Y.,  February  5,  1895. 
Respectfully  forwarded. 

I  now  most  earnestly  renew  the  recommendation,  call- 
ing especial  attention  to  the  letter  of  Colonel  Lawton, 
which  describes  one  of  the  most  laborious,  persistent,  and 
heroic  campaigns  in  which  men  were  ever  engaged,  and 
the  fact  that  Capt.  Leonard  Wood,  assistant  surgeon,  vol- 
unteered to  perform  the  extraordinary  hazardous  and 
dangerous  service  is  creditable  to  him  in  the  highest  de- 
gree. For  his  gallantry  on  the  13th  of  July  in  the  sur- 
prise and  capture  of  Geronimo's  camp  I  recommend  that 
he  be  brevetted  for  services  on  that  date. 

Nelson  A.  Miles, 
Major-General. 

Adjutant-General's  Office, 

February  15,  1895. 
Respectfully  submitted  to  the  Lieutenant-General,  with 
brief  inclosed. 

J.  C.  Gilmore, 
"Assistant  Adjutant-General, 

Adjutant-General's  Office, 
October  11,   1897. 
Respectfully  submitted  to  the  Major-General  Com- 
manding the  Army. 

W.  P.  Hall, 
Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

[321] 


APPENDIX 

Headquarters  of  the  Army, 
Washington,  D.  C,  December  28,  1897. 
Reference  to  the  board  which  considers  medal-of-honor 
cases  desired  by  the  Major-General  Commanding. 

J.  C.  Gilmore, 
Assistant  Adjutant-General. 

War  Department,  Office  of  the  Secretary, 

March  29,  1898. 
By  direction  of  the  President  a  medal  of  honor  is  pre- 
sented to  Dr.  Leonard  Wood,  U.  S.  Army. 

Throughout  the  campaign  against  hostile  Apaches  in 
the  summer  of  1886,  this  officer,  then  assistant  surgeon 
and  serving  as  medical  officer  with  Captain  Lawton's 
expedition,  rendered  specially  courageous  and  able  ser- 
vices involving  extreme  peril  and  display  of  most  con- 
spicuous gallantry  under  conditions  of  great  danger, 
hardship,  and  privation.  .  .  . 

R.  A.  Alger, 
Secretary  of  War. 


The  Secretary  of  War  directs  that  in  this  case  the 
medal  be  engraved  as  follows: 

The  Congress 

to 

Capt.  Leonard  Wood, 

Asst.  Surg.,  U.  S.  A., 

for 

distinguished  conduct  in 

campaign  against  Apache  Indians, 

summer,  1886. 

H.  C.  Corbin, 
A  djutant-General. 
Adjutant-General's  Office,  April  4,  1898. 


[322] 


APPENDIX 

General  Miles,  said  in  the  spring  of  1898: 
"This  officer  served  in  the  field  under  my  command  for 
several  months  during  the  terrible  campaign  against  the 
Apache  Indians  under  Geronimo.  He  is  one  of  the  most 
enterprising,  intelligent,  and  fearless  officers  in  the  ser- 
vice, and  competent  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  a  field  officer." 


General  Lawton,  early  in  1898: 

"When  through  exposure  and  fatigue  the  infantry  bat- 
talion lost  its  last  officer  (in  the  pursuit  of  Geronimo) 
Captain  Wood  volunteered  to  command  it  in  addition  to 
his  duties  as  surgeon.  In  this  duty  Captain  Wood  dis- 
tinguished himself  most.  His  courage,  endurance,  and 
example  made  success  possible.  .  .  ." 

*****  *  * 

Gen.  Wm.  M.  Graham,  spring  of  1898: 

"With  a  high  sense  of  honor  in  all  the  obligations  of 
life,  he  is  a  most  conscientious  and  zealous  officer  in  the 
discharge  of  duty.  His  physique  is  superb;  his  mental 
qualifications  are  of  the  highest  order." 

******* 

Gen.  George  A.  Forsythe,  early  in  the  year  1898: 
"Captain  Wood  served  with  me  on  the  frontier  in 
Arizona  and  New  Mexico  a  number  of  years  ago.  I  have 
known  him  well  for  the  past  ten  years  and  I  regard  him 
as  one  of  the  very  best  soldiers  I  know.  .  .  .  He 
has  all  the  sound  judgment,  good  sense,  executive  ability, 
experience,  and  courage  requisite  to  make  him  one  of 
the  best  and  safest  colonels  in  the  Army." 

******* 

"Captain  Wood  is  especially  gifted  for  the  command 
of  men.  He  is  a  man  of  great  ability  and  courage,  and 
his  experience  in  the  Indian  wars,  and  bringing  with 
that  experience  the  entire  confidence  of  the  Army,  con- 

[323] 


APPENDIX 

firms  all  his  friends,  of  whom  I  am  glad  to  be  one,  claim 
for  him." 

R.  A.  Alger, 
Secretary  of  War, 
April  16th,  1898. 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  report  of  Senate 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  printed  1903  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  Rathbone  trial: 

"President  McKinley  appointed  Captain  Wood  to  be 
colonel  of  the  First  United  States  Volunteer  Cavalry  on 
the  8th  of  May,  1898.  He  commanded  his  regiment, 
which  constituted  one  of  the  two  attacking  columns  at 
Las  Guasimas  on  June  24,  1898.  His  brigade  commander, 
the  present  Lieutenant-General  Young,  reported  as  fol- 
lows of  him  in  this  engagement : 

"  'I  ordered  the  attack,  and  it  was  executed  in  a  manner 
winning  the  admiration  of  the  division  commander  and 
all  present  who  witnessed  it.  .  .  . 

u  'I  can  not  speak  too  highly  of  the  efficient  manner  in 
which  Colonel  Wood  handled  his  regiment,  and  of  his 
magnificent  behavior  on  the  field.  Colonel  Wood  dis- 
dained to  take  advantage  of  shelter  or  cover  from  the 
enemy's  fire  while  any  of  his  men  remained  exposed  to 
it — an  error  of  judgment,  but  happily  on  the  heroic  side.' 

"His  division  commander,  Maj.  Gen.  Joseph  Wheeler, 
reported  as  follows: 

"  The  magnificent  and  brave  work  done  by  his  regi- 
ment under  the  lead  of  Colonel  Wood  testifies  to  his 
courage  and  skill.  The  energy  and  determination  of 
this  officer  had  been  marked  from  the  moment  he  re- 
ported to  me  at  Tampa,  Fla.,  and  I  have  abundant  evi- 
dence of  his  brave  and  good  conduct  on  the  field,  and  I 
recommend  him  for  consideration  of  the  Government/ 

"He  was  made  brigadier-general  of  volunteers  on  the 
8th  of  July,  1898,  having  won  his  brigadier-generalship 
by  the  gallantry  and  efficiency  with  which  he  served  as 

[324] 


APPENDIX 

colonel  in  the  Santiago  campaign,  as  he  had  won  his 
colonelcy  by  the  gallantry  and  efficiency  with  which  he 
had  served  while  acting  as  a  line  officer  in  command  of  a 
detachment  of  infantry  in  the  campaigns  against  the 
Apaches. 

"Maj.  Gen.  W.  S.  Shafter,  commanding  the  Fifth 
Army  Corps,  reported  as  follows: 

"  The  following  officers  were  conspicuous  for  their 
bravery  and  handled  their  troops  so  well  I  desire  to 
recommend  them  for  promotion:  .  .  .  Colonel  Wood, 
to  be  a  brigadier-general/ 

"Shortly  after  being  appointed  brigadier-general  he 
was  made  military  governor  of  Santiago.  He  received  the 
appointment  on  the  recommendation  of  his  military  su- 
perior, Major-General  Shafter,  who  cabled  to  Washing- 
ton on  August  4 :  'I  think  General  Wood  by  far  the  best 
man  to  leave  in  command  of  the  city  of  Santiago,  and 
perhaps  of  the  whole  district.'  So  well  did  he  perform 
his  duties  that  President  McKinley,  on  October  7,  gave 
him  the  command  of  the  Department  of  Santiago,  making 
him  also  civil  governor  of  the  province  of  the  same  name, 
and  appointing  him  major-general  of  volunteers  on  the 
7th  of  December,  1898. 

"On  October  1,  1899,  Maj.  John  R.  Brooke,  command- 
ing the  Division  of  Cuba,  reported  of  him  as  follows : 

"  'I  desire  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  able  assist- 
ance rendered  me  by  the  several  department  commanders 
in  the  transaction  of  the  military  portion  of  our  duties 
in  the  Division  of  Cuba,  as  follows :  .  .  .  Brig.  Gen. 
Leonard  Wood.' 

"So  well  did  he  do  his  work  as  governor  of  the  province 
of  Santiago  that,  purely  on  his  merits,  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Secretary  of  War,  President  McKinley 
appointed  him  military  governor  of  the  island  of  Cuba 
on  December  20,  1899.  So  great  was  his  success  in  his 
new  position,  a  position  at  that  time  of  as  great  responsi- 

[325] 


APPENDIX 

bility,  difficulty,  and  importance  as  almost  any  other  in 
our  whole  Government,  that,  by  way  of  recognition  and 
reward,  somewhat  over  a  year  later,  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1901,  on  the  nomination  of  President  McKinley,  he  was 
made  a  brigadier-general  in  the  United  States  Army. 
He  continued  to  serve  with  striking  efficiency  as  military 
governor  of  the  island  of  Cuba  until  on  May  20,  1902,  he 
turned  over  the  government  of  the  island  to  the  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Republic  of  Cuba.  In  the  official  records 
General  Wood's  services  during  these  years  are  spoken 
of  as  follows: 

(Extract  from  General  Orders,  No.  66,  Adjutant-Gen- 
eral's Office,  July  4,  1902,  to  the  Army  of  the  United 
States.) 

"  'The  President  thanks  the  officers  and  enlisted  men 
who  have  been  maintaining  order  and  carrying  on  the 
military  government  of  Cuba,  because  they  have  faith- 
fully given  effect  to  the  human  purposes  of  the  Ameri- 
can people.  They  have  governed  Cuba  wisely,  recording 
justice  and  individual  liberty ;  have  honestly  collected  and 
expended  for  the  best  interests  of  the  Cuban  people  reve- 
nues amounting  to  over  $60,000,000;  have  carried  out 
practical  and  thorough  sanitary  methods,  greatly  improv- 
ing the  health  and  lowering  the  death  rate  of  the  island. 
They  have  gradually  trained  the  Cubans  in  all  branches 
of  administration,  so  that  the  new  Cuban  Government, 
upon  assuming  power,  has  begun  its  work  with  a  force 
of  Cuban  employees  competent  to  execute  its  orders. 
The  have  transferred  the  government  of  Cuba  to  the 
Cuban  people  amid  universal  expressions  of  friendship 
and  good  will,  and  have  left  a  record  of  order,  justice, 
and  liberty,  of  rapid  improvement  in  material  and  moral 
conditions,  a  progress  in  the  art  of  government  which  re- 
flects great  credit  on  the  people  of  the  United  States.'  " 
(General  Wood  was  military  governor  of  Cuba  during 
most  of  the  time  covered  by  this  order.) 

******* 

>  [326] 


APPENDIX 

Theodore  Roosevelt, 
January  yth,  1899. 

"What  I  am  about  to  write  concerning  the  great  service 
rendered,  not  only  to  Cuba,  but  to  America,  by  Brigadier- 
General  Leonard  Wood,  now  Military  Governor  of  San- 
tiago, is  written  very  much  less  as  a  tribute  to  him  than 
for  the  sake  of  pointing  out  what  an  object-lesson  he  has 
given  the  people  of  the  United  States  in  the  matter  of 
administering  those  tropic  lands  in  which  we  have  grown 
to  have  so  great  an  interest.  .  .  . 

"The  great  importance  of  the  personal  element  in  this 
work  makes  it  necessary  for  me  to  dwell  upon  General 
Wood's  qualifications  as  I  should  not  otherwise  do.  The 
successful  administrator  of  a  tropic  colony  must  ordi- 
narily be  a  man  of  boundless  energy  and  endurance;  and 
there  were  probably  very  few  men  in  the  army  at  San- 
tiago, whether  among  the  officers  or  in  the  ranks,  who 
could  match  General  Wood  in  either  respect.  No  soldier 
could  outwalk  him,  could  live  with  more  indifference  on 
hard  and  scanty  fare,  could  endure  hardship  better,  or 
do  better  without  sleep;  no  officer  ever  showed  more 
ceaseless  energy  in  providing  for  his  soldiers,  in  recon- 
noitering,  in  overseeing  personally  all  the  countless  de- 
tails of  life  in  camp,  in  patrolling  the  trenches  at  night, 
in  seeing  by  personal  inspection  that  the  outposts  were 
doing  their  duty,  in  attending  personally  to  all  the  thou- 
sand and  one  things  to  which  a  commander  should  at- 
tend, and  to  which  only  those  commanders  of  marked 
and  exceptional  mental  and  bodily  vigor  are  able  to  at- 
tend. .  .  . 

"Both  his  medical  and  military  training  stood  him  in 
good  stead.  I  was  frequently  in  Santiago  after  the  sur- 
render, and  I  never  saw  Wood  when  he  was  not  engaged 
on  some  one  of  his  multitudinous  duties.  He  was  per- 
sonally inspecting  the  hospitals ;  he  was  personally  super- 
intending the  cleaning  of  the  streets;  he  was  personally 
hearing  the  most  important  of  the  countless  complaints 

[327] 


APPENDIX 

made  by  Cubans  against  the  Spaniards,  Spaniards  against 
Cubans,  and  by  both  against  Americans ;  he  was  person- 
ally engaged  in  working  out  a  better  system  of  sewerage 
or  in  striving  to  secure  the  return  of  the  land-tillers  to 
the  soil.  I  do  not  mean  that  he  ever  allowed  himself  to 
be  swamped  by  mere  detail;  he  is  much  too  good  an 
executive  officer  not  to  delegate  to  others  whatever  can 
safely  be  delegated ;  but  the  extraordinary  energy  of  the 
man  himself  is  such  that  he  can  in  person. oversee  and 
direct  much  more  than  is  possible  with  the  ordinary 
man." 

Extract  from  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War 
(Elihu  Root),  dated  December  I,  1902. 

"I  know  of  no  chapter  in  American  history  more  satis- 
factory than  that  which  will  record  the  conduct  of  the 
military  government  of  Cuba.  The  credit  of  it  is  due, 
first  of  all,  to  Brig.-Gen.  Leonard  Wood,  the  commander 
of  the  Department  of  Santiago  until  December,  1899, 
and  thenceforth  the  military  governor  of  the  island." 

The  War  Department,  by  direction  of  the  President, 
thanked  General  Wood  and  the  officials  serving  under 
him  for  their  services  in  Cuba  in  General  Orders,  No. 
38,  Headquarters  of  the  Army,  1903 : 

"The  administration  of  General  Wood,  both  as  military 
commander  of  the  Division  and  Department  of  Cuba  and 
as  military  governor,  was  highly  creditable.  The  civil 
government  was  managed  with  an  eye  single  to  the  benefit 
of  the  Cuban  people.  Under  the  supervision  and  control 
of  the  military  governor  the  Cuban  people  themselves  had 
an  opportunity  to  carry  on  their  own  government  to  a 
constantly  increasing  degree,  so  that  when  Cuba  assumed 
her  independence  she  started  with  the  best  possible  chance 
of  success.  Out  of  an  utterly  prostrate  colony  a  free 
republic  was  built  up,  the  work  being  done  with  such 
signal  ability,  integrity,  and  success  that  the  new  nation 

[328] 


APPENDIX 

started  under  more  favorable  conditions  than  has  ever 
before  been  the  case  in  any  single  instance  among  her 
fellow  Spanish-American  republics.  This  record  stands 
alone  in  history,  and  the  benefit  conferred  thereby  upon 
the  people  of  Cuba  was  no  greater  than  the  honor  con- 
ferred upon  the  people  of  the  United  States." 

£  *  *  *  ♦  ♦  * 

Report  of  Senate  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
printed  January,  1903. 

"General  Wood  has  received  each  promotion  as  a 
reward  of  signal  gallantry  or  signal  efficiency  in  the  po- 
sition from  which  he  was  promoted/' 

******* 

Theodore  Roosevelt, 
July  30,  19 10. 

"Nearly  twelve  years  ago,  when  Leonard  Wood  was 
acting  as  Governor  of  Santiago,  I  wrote  in  The  Outlook 
about  what  he  had  already  achieved,  and  what  he  could 
be  trusted  to  achieve.  During  the  intervening  twelve 
years  he  has  played  a  very  conspicuous  part  among  the 
men  who  have  rendered  signal  service  to  the  country.  .  .  . 
What  has  been  accomplished  in  the  Philippines,  in 
Cuba,  in  Porto  Rico,  in  Panama,  and  in  San  Domingo 
during  these  twelve  years  represents  a  sum  of  achieve- 
ment of  which  this  Nation  has  a  right  to  be  extremely 
proud.  In  each  locality  the  problem  has  been  different, 
in  each  locality  it  has  been  solved  with  signal  success.  .  .  . 
This  record  is  primarily  due  to  the  admirable  quality 
of  the  men  put  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  the  different 
places.  Messrs.  Taft,  Luke  Wright,  Smith  and  Forbes, 
Messrs.  Hunt,  Winthrop,  Post  and  Colton,  Governor 
Magoon,  Colonel  Goethals — to  these  and  their  colleagues 
and  subordinates  the  country  owes  a  heavy  debt  of  obli- 
gation. 

"Colonel  Goethals,  under  whom  the  gigantic  work  of 
the  Panama  Canal  is  being  accomplished,  with  literally 
astounding  rapidity  and  success,  is  a  representative  of 

[329] 


APPENDIX 

the  Army.  The  share  of  the  army  in  the  honor  roll  is 
very  large.  ...  As  a  whole,  of  all  the  work  of  the  army 
officers,  the  greatest  in  amount,  and  the  greatest  in  va- 
riety of  achievement,  must  be  credited  to  General  Wood. 
And  moreover,  he  has  at  times  combined  with  singular 
success  the  functions  of  civil  administrator  and  military 
commandant.  The  part  played  by  the  United  States  in 
Cuba  has  been  one  of  the  most  honorable  ever  played  by 
any  nation  in  dealing  with  a  weaker  Power,  one  of  the 
most  satisfactory  in  all  respects;  and  to  General  Wood 
more  than  to  any  other  one  man  is  due  the  credit  of 
starting  this  work  and  conducting  it  to  a  successful  con- 
clusion during  the  earliest  and  most  difficult  years.  Like 
almost  all  of  the  men  mentioned,  as  well  as  their  col- 
leagues, General  Wood  of  course  incurred  the  violent 
hatred  of  many  dishonest  schemers  and  unscrupulous  ad- 
venturers, and  of  a  few  more  or  less  well-meaning  per- 
sons who  were  misled  by  these  schemers  and  adventurers ; 
but  it  is  astounding  to  any  one  acquainted  with  the  facts 
to  realize,  not  merely  what  he  accomplished,  but  how  he 
succeeded  in  gaining  the  good  will  of  the  enormous  ma- 
jority of  the  men  whose  good  will  could  be  won  only  in 
honorable  fashion.  Spaniards  and  Cubans,  Christian 
Filipinos  and  Moros,  Catholic  ecclesiastics  and  Protest- 
ant missionaries — in  each  case  the  great  majority  of  those 
whose  opinion  was  best  worth  having — grew  to  regard 
General  Wood  as  their  special  champion  and  ablest 
friend,  as  the  man  who  more  than  any  other  understood 
and  sympathized  with  their  peculiar  needs  and  was 
anxious  and  able  to  render  them  the  help  they  most 
needed.  .  .  . 

"His  administration  was  as  signally  successful  in  the 
Moro  country  as  in  Cuba.  In  each  case  alike  it  brought 
in  its  train  peace,  an  increase  in  material  prosperity,  and 
a  rigid  adherence  to  honesty  as  the  only  policy  tolerated 
among  officials. 

"In  our  country  there  are  some  kinds  of  success  which 

[330] 


APPENDIX 

receive  an  altogether  disproportionate  financial  reward; 
but  in  no  other  country  is  the  financial  reward  so  small 
for  the  kind  of  service  done  by  Leonard  Wood  and  by 
the  other  men  whose  names  I  have  given  above.  Gen- 
eral Wood  is  an  army  officer  with  nothing  but  an  army 
officer's  pay,  and  we  accept  it  as  a  matter  of  course  that 
he  should  have  received  practically  no  pecuniary  reward 
for  those  services  which  he  rendered  in  positions  not 
such  as  an  army  officer  usually  occupies.  There  is  not 
another  big  country  in  the  world  where  he  would  not 
have  received  a  substantial  reward  such  as  here  no  one 
even  thinks  of  his  receiving.  Yet,  after  all,  the  reward 
for  which  he  most  cares  is  the  opportunity  to  render 
service,  and  this  opportunity  has  been  given  him  again 
and  again." 

******* 

"General  Wood  is  easily  the  ablest  soldier  the  nation 
has  produced  since  the  Civil  War.  If  we  should  become 
involved  in  war  to-morrow  I  don't  know  where  I  should 
look  for  a  man  to  take  his  place.  He  would  be  the  one 
man  to  take  command." 

Theodore  Roosevelt,  1908. 

£  *  *  *  ♦  fc  ♦ 

"General  Leonard  Wood  combines  in  a  very  high  de- 
gree the  qualities  of  entire  manliness  with  entire  upright- 
ness and  cleanliness  of  character.  He  is  a  man  of  high 
ideals  who  scorns  everything  mean  and  base  and  who 
possesses  those  robust  and  hardy  qualities  of  body  and 
mind  for  the  lack  of  which  no  merely  negative  virtue 
can  atone.  .  .  .  He  has  shown  himself  one  of  the  most 
useful  and  patriotic  of  American  public  servants,  and  has 
made  all  good  Americans  his  debtors  by  what  he  has 
done.  .  .  .  During  these  last  eighteen  years  he  has  ren- 
dered to  America  service  of  the  very  highest  values  and 
of  a  kind  that  could  be  rendered  only  by  a  man  of  wholly 
exceptional  power  and  ability,  ardent  in  his  big-hearted 

[331] 


APPENDIX 

devotion  to  the  honor  of  the  flag  and  the  welfare  of  the 
nation/' 

Theodore  Roosevelt, 

March,  191 7. 
******* 

"The  higher  the  position  to  which  he  may  be  appointed, 
the  greater  will  be  his  value." 

General  Lawton,  1898. 


[332] 


APPENDIX  B. 

A  List  of  Leonard  Wood's  Ancestors  Who  Ren- 
dered Patriotic  Service  from  1620  to  1865 : 

SERVICE  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

Dr.  Charles  Jewett  Wood,  his  father,  served  through 
the  entire  War  in  the  Medical  Corps. 

******* 

HIS  ANCESTORS  WHO  SERVED  IN  THE  WAR 
OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

Abel  Cutler,  Sudbury,  Mass.,  born  March  9,  1759. 

Served  as  Private  in  Captain  Andrew's  Company  in 
Colonel  Marshall's  Regiment,  1776.  Enlisted  June  13, 
1776. 

Also  in  Colonel  Thomas  Poor's  Regiment,  1778.  Dis- 
charged December  16,  1780. 

Timothy  Flagg,  Waltham,  Mass.,  born  March  10, 
1741. 

Private  in  Captain  Abraham  Peirce's  Company,  called 
out  by  Colonel  Thomas  Gardner  in  the  alarm  of  April 
19,  1775,  to  march  to  Concord  and  Lexington.  His  Com- 
pany served  until  Saturday  the  Fourth,  the  day  after  the 
fight  at  Concord. 

He  enlisted  again  April  25,  1775  in  Colonel  William 
Bond's  37th  Regiment  at  Camp  Prospect  Hill.  The  Com- 
pany marched  at  the  taking  of  Dorchester  Heights  by 
order  of  General  Washington. 

Served  also  in  Colonel  Dike's  Regiment,  1777. 

John  Nixon,  born  at  Framingham,  Mass.,  March  4* 
1725. 

[333] 


APPENDIX 

Was  a  member  of  the  Expedition  against  Cape  Breton 
in  1745,  under  Sir  William  Pepperhill,  and  was  at  the 
capture  of  Louisburg. 

After  serving  in  the  Army  and  Navy  for  seven  years, 
he  returned  to  Framingham,  but  soon  entered  the  Army 
again  and  as  Captain  fought  at  Ticonderoga  and  in  the 
battle  of  Lake  George. 

In  the  Revolution  he  led  a  company  of  Minute  Men  at 
Lexington,  and  commanded  a  regiment  at  Bunker  Hill, 
where  he  received  a  wound  from  which  he  never  entirely 
recovered. 

He  was  appointed  Brigadier-General  by  the  Continental 
Congress  on  August  9,  1776.  and  entrusted  with  the  com- 
mand of  Governors  Island  in  the  Harbor  of  New  York, 
being  the  first  American  officer  to  hold  that  post. 

In  1777  he  served  under  Major-General  Horatio  Gates. 
At  the  battle  of  Stillwater  he  commanded  the  First 
Massachusetts  Regiment.  Here  a  cannon  ball  passed  so 
near  his  head  as  to  impair  permanently  the  sight  of  one 
eye  and  the  hearing  of  one  ear.  Owing  to  failing  health 
he  resigned  his  commission  Sept.  12,  1780. 

Micah  Reed,  born  in  Abington,  Mass.,  February  1, 

1743. 

Served  as  Sergeant  in  Captain  William  Reed's  Com- 
pany, in  Colonel  John  Bailey's  Regiment  of  Minute  Men, 
which  marched  to  Concord  and  Lexington  on  the  alarm 
of  April  19,  1775. 

Also  in  Captain  Edward  Cobb's  Company  in  Colonel 
Edward  Mitchel's  Regiment. 

His  Company  marched  from  Abington  to  the  "Farms" 
in  Braintree,  March  4,  1776. 


John  White,  Sr.,  of  Marshfield  and  Blanford,  Mass., 
born  1738. 

Enlisted  in  the  Continental  Army  May  20,  1781,  for 

[334] 


APPENDIX 

a  term  of  three  years.  Age.  43.  Occupation,  Doctor  of 
Medicine. 

John  White,  Jr.,  of  Marshfield  and  Blanford,  Mass., 
born  1763. 

Son  of  Doctor  John  White,  Sr.  Served  under  com- 
mand of  Captain  Park. 

Discharged  July  25,  1781.    Age  17. 

Eli  Wood,  of  Brookfield,  Mass.,  born  February  16, 

1753. 

Private  in  Colonel  Ebenezer  Leonard's  Regiment,  1775. 

Also  in  Colonel  Wigglesworth's  Regiment,  having  en- 
listed for  a  term  of  three  years  from  February  1,  1777. 
At  Valley  Forge  1778. 

Corporal  in  Colonel  John  Rand's  Regiment  July  5, 
1780. 

Discharged  October  10,  1780. 

He  named  his  seventh  child,  Leonard,  after  his  old 

Colonel.     This  son  was  the  grandfather  of  the  present 

Leonard  Wood. 

*        *****        * 

HIS  ANCESTORS  WHO  SERVED  IN  THE  COLONIAL 
PERIOD,   1620-1775. 

Joseph  Andrews,  i 597-1635. 

Deputy  from  Hingham  to  the  General  Court  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, 1636,  1637,  1638. 

Appointed  in  Arbitration  Commission  to  settle  the 
boundaries  between  the  several  Colonies. 

Samuel  Appleton,  1586- 1670. 

Deputy  from  Ipswich  to  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  1637. 

Associate  Justice  of  the  Quarter  Court,  1637. 

Ellis  Barron,  1600-1676.    Watertown,  Mass. 
Soldier  in  King  Philip's  War. 

[3351 


APPENDIX 

Thomas  Bartlett,  1594-1654. 

Ensign,  1639. 

Lieutenant  in  the  Company  of  Watertown,  Massachu- 
setts, 1639-1645. 

Served  during  Pequot  War. 

John  Bent,  1603-1672.     Sudbury,  Mass. 

In  Major  Simon  Willard's  expedition  against  the  In- 
dian Chief  Ninigret  in  1654. 

John  Bigelow,  1617-1703.    Watertown,  Mass. 
Served  in  Pequot  War  and  in  King  Philip's  War. 

Samuel  Bigelow,  1653-1732. 

Representative  from  Watertown  to  the  General  Court 
of  Massachusetts,  1708-1710. 

Thomas  Bigelow,  1683-1756. 

Representative  from  Watertown  to  the  Massachusetts 
General  Court,  1738. 

Lieutenant  of  Infantry,  1741. 

Joseph  Boynton,  1645-1730.     Rowley,  Mass. 

Deputy  from  Rowley  to  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court,  1697-1714. 

Soldier  in  the  provincial  military  forces  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay. 

Nicholas  Browne,  1673.    Lynn,  Mass. 

Deputy  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
from  Lynn,  1641 ;  from  Reading,  1671,  1672. 

Samuel  Chapin,  i  595-1675. 

Magistrate  of  County  Court  at  Springfield,  Massachu- 
setts, 1652. 

Appointed  by  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony  to  govern  Springfield;  when  it  was  burned  by 
the  Indians  in  King  Philip's  War  he  was  a  participant  in 
repelling  the  attack  on  fortified  houses. 

[336] 


APPENDIX 

Richard  Church,  1608-1668.    Plymouth. 

Member  of  Plymouth  Military  Company,  1643.  Served 
in  Pequot  War. 

Francis  Cooke,  1 574-1663. 

Passenger  on  the  Mayflozver. 

One  of  the  Recognized  Historic  Founders  of  Ply- 
mouth Colony. 

Signer  of  the  Mayflower  Compact. 

Member  of  Myles  Standish's  Company  in  expedition 
against  Indians  in  "First  Encounter." 

Member  of  Plymouth  Military  Company. 

Griffin  Craft,  1630-1689. 

Deputy  from  Roxbury  to  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  1638,  1663-1667. 

Lieutenant  of  a  Roxbury  Military  Company,  1653- 
1676. 

James  Cutler,  1606-1694.    Lexington,  Mass. 
Member  of  Lexington  Military  Company. 
Served  in  King  Philip's  War. 

Thomas  Cutler,  1648-1722.    Lexington,  Mass. 

Lieutenant  of  the  Lexington  Militia  under  Captain 
Reed. 

Anthony  Eames, 

Deputy  from  Hingham  to  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  1637,  1638,  1643. 

Deputy  from  Marshfield  to  the  General  Court  of  Ply- 
mouth, 1653-1658,  1661. 

Member  of  a  Council  of  War,  1657. 

Lieutenant,  1645. 

John  Fay,  1648-1690.     Marlboro,  Mass. 

A  member  of  the  Marlboro  Garrison  during  King 
Philip's  War. 

[337] 


APPENDIX 

John  Fiske,  1619-1684.    Wenham,  Mass. 

Deputy  from  Wenham  to  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court,  1669,  1679. 

Ensign  of  Wenham  Military  Company. 

Michael  Flagg,  1651-1711.    Watertown,  Mass. 

Soldier  in  the  Massachusetts  provincial  military  forces. 

Thomas  Flagg,  1616-1698.    Watertown,  Mass. 

Served  as  a  private  in  the  Train  Band  until  1681,  when 
he  was  65  years  of  age. 

Charles  Gott,  died  1667.    Salem  &  Wenham,  Mass. 
Deputy  to  the  Massachusetts  General  Court,  1635. 

Charles  Gott,  Jr.,  1639-1708.    Wenham,  Mass. 
Soldier  in  the  Company  of  Foot  at  Wenham,  1683. 

Henry  Gilbert,  1661-1740.    Brookfield,  Mass. 

Built  the  Gilbert's  Fort  at  Brookfield,  1688,  as  defense 
against  Indians. 

John  Gilman,  1624-1708. 

Councillor,  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  1679-1682. 

Representative  from  Exeter  to  the  General  Assembly, 
1693. 

Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  1693- 1697. 

Lieutenant  of  the  Exeter  Military  Company,  1669. 

Judge  of  Norfolk  County  Court,  1678-1679. 

William  Hagar,  1 659-1 731.    Watertown,  Mass. 

Served  under  Captain  Nathaniel  Davenport  in  King 
Philip's  War. 

Stephen  Hopkins,  died  1644. 
Passenger  on  the  Mayflower. 

[338] 


APPENDIX 

One  of  the  Recognized  Historic  Founders  of  the  Ply- 
mouth Colony. 

Served  under  Captain  Myles  Standish,  1621. 
Member  of  the  Governor's  Council,  1633-1636. 
Member  of  Council  of  War  for  Plymouth,  1642. 
Volunteer  in  Pequot  War. 

John  How,  died  1687.     Marlboro,  Mass. 

Commanded    Garrison   House   at    Marlboro   in   King 
Philip's  War,  1675-1676. 

Joseph  Jewett,  1 609-1 661.    Rowley,  Mass. 

Deputy  from  Rowley  to  Massachusetts  General  Court, 
165 1,  1652,  1653,  1654,  1660. 

Joseph  Jewett,  1656- 1694.    Rowley,  Mass. 

In  King  Philip's  War,  under  Captain  Samuel  Brockle- 
bank.    Later  Captain  of  a  Company. 

John  Livermore,  1606-1684.    Watertown,  Mass. 
Corporal  in  New  Haven  Military  Company,  1647. 

John  Livermore,  Jr.,  1638-1718.    Watertown,  Mass. 
Soldier  in  King  Philip's  War. 
Lieutenant. 

George  Morton,  1599- 1624. 

One  of  the  Recognized  Historic  Founders  of  Plymouth 
Colony. 

John  Morton,  1616-1673.    Middleboro. 

Deputy  from  Bridgewater  to  the  General  Court  of 
Plymouth  Colony,  1672-73. 

Jacob  Nash,  died  1717. 

Lieutenant  in  Captain  Ephraim  Hunt's  Company  in 
French  and  Indian  War,  1689. 

[339] 


APPENDIX 

James  Nash. 

Deputy  from  Weymouth  to  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts  Colony,  1655,  1662,  1667. 

George  Phillips,  1 593-1644. 

One  of  the  Recognized  Historic  Founders  of  the 
Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

Minister  at  Watertown,  1630- 1644.  Active  in  Found- 
ing and  Forwarding  the  Interests  of  the  Colony  prior  to 
1675. 

Samuel  Phillips,  1625-1696.    Rowley,  Mass. 

Preacher  of  the  Election  Sermon  to  the  Massachusetts 
General  Court,  1678. 

William  Reade,  1605- 1663.    Weymouth,  Mass. 

Ensign  of  Foot  Company,  1640. 

Deputy  from  Weymouth  to  the  General  Court,  1635, 
1636,  1638. 

William  Reade,  Jr.,  1639- 1706.    Weymouth,  Mass. 
Served  in  King  Philip's  War. 

Edmund  Rice,  1 594-1663.    Sudbury,  Mass. 

Deputy  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  Colony, 
1640,  1643,  1652,  1653,  1654. 

Edw'ard  Rice,  161 9-1 7 12.     Marlboro,  Mass. 

Member  of  the  West  Middlesex  Regiment,  which  was 
quartered  in  his  garrison  house,  1691. 

Robert  Seaver,  1608- 1683.    Roxbury,  Mass. 
Served  in  King  Philip's  War. 

Samuel  Sherman. 

Governor's  Assistant  under  Governor  John  Winthrop. 
Ensign  and  Lieutenant,  1667. 

[340] 


APPENDIX 

Samuel  Sprague,  1640-1710.     Marshneld. 

Deputy  from  Marshfield  to  the  Plymouth  General 
Court,  1682,  1683,  1684,  1686. 

Secretary  of  the  Colony,  1686,  1689,  1690,  1691. 

Gregory  Stone,  1 590-1672.    Cambridge,  Mass. 

Deputy  to  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony, 
1638. 

John  Stone,  1618-1683.    Cambridge,  Mass. 

Deputy  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
1682-1683. 

Richard  Swan,  died  1678. 

Deputy  from  Rowley  to  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  1660,  1667-1673,  1675,  1677. 

In  King  Philip's  War,  and  expedition  to  Canada. 

Samuel  Symonds,  1595-1678. 

Deputy  from  Ipswich  to  the  General  Court  of  the 
Colony,  1 638- 1 642. 

Governor's  Assistant,  1643-1673. 

Deputy  Governor  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
1673-1678. 

John  Thompson,  1616-1696. 

Deputy  from  Barnstable  to  the  General  Court  of  Ply- 
mouth Colony,  1671,  1672;  from  Middleburgh,  1674, 
1675,  1680,  1681-1686. 

Lieutenant  in  King  Philip's  War,  1675. 

Christopher  Wadsworth,  died  1688.    Duxbury. 

Deputy  from  Duxbury  to  the  General  Court  of  Ply- 
mouth Colony,  1639. 

In  Captain  Myles  Standish's  Company,  1643. 

[341] 


APPENDIX 

John  Wadsworth,  1638- 1700.     Duxbury. 

Deputy  from  Duxbury  to  General  Court  of  Plymouth 
Colony,  1690,  1 69 1. 

Deputy  from  Duxbury  to  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court,  1694. 

Daniel  Warren,  1628-1715.    Watertown,  Mass. 
Served  in  King  Philip's  War. 

Richard  Warren. 

Passenger  on  the  Mayflower,  1620. 

One  of  the  Recognized  Historic  Founders  of  the 
Plymouth  Colony. 

Signer  of  the  Mayflower  compact. 

Fought  in  the  "First  Encounter"  with  the  Indians,  at 
Wellfleet  Harbor,  Dec.  8,  1620. 

John  Whipple,  1605- 1669. 

Deputy  from  Ipswich  to  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  1640,  1641,  1642,  1646,  1650-1653. 

John  Whipple,  1626-1683. 

Deputy  from  Ipswich  to  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts, 1674,  1679,  1682,  1683. 

In  Captain  John  Appleton's  Troop,  1668. 

Lieutenant  in  Captain  Nicholas  Paige's  Company  in 
Mount  Hope  Campaign. 

King  Philip's  War,  Captain  of  troop,  1676. 

John  Whipple,  1657-1 722.     Ipswich,  Mass. 

Representative  from  Ipswich  to  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts,  1695. 

Lieutenant,  1700. 

Captain,  1708. 

Judge  of  Sessions  Court. 

[342] 


APPENDIX 

John  White,  1664-1727.    Haverhill,  Mass. 

Ensign,  1692. 

Lieutenant,  1697. 

Captain,    171 5. 

Commanded  Garrison  House  at  Haverhill,  1694. 

Representative,  1700,  1702,  1703,  1713,  1715,  1716, 
1719. 

Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  1702. 

Peregrine  White,  1620- 1704.  Born  on  the  Mayflower 
the  day  before  landing. 

Captain  of  Colonial  Troops. 

Member  of  Council  of  War  for  Plymouth  Colony, 
1675. 

Samuel  White,  1718-1801.    Haverhill,  Mass. 

Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Representative  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts. 

Delegate  to  the  first  Provincial  Congress  at  Salem, 
October  7th,  1774. 

Thomas  White,  1590-1679.    Weymouth,  Mass. 
Member  of  the  Weymouth  Militia. 
Deputy,  1 637- 1 67 1,  to  Massachusetts  General  Court. 

William  White, 

Passenger  on  the  Mayflozver,  1620. 

Signer  of  the  Compact. 

One  of  the  Recognized  Historic  Founders  of  the  Ply- 
mouth Colony. 

William  White,  1610-1690.    Haverhill,  Mass. 
Founder  of  Haverhill. 
Captain  of  first  Military  Company,  1648. 

William  White,  1694- 1737.    Haverhill,  Mass. 

Representative  from  Haverhill  to  the  Massachusetts 
General  Court,  1733,  1734. 

Captain  of  Haverhill  Military  Company. 

[343] 


APPENDIX 

Samuel  Wood  (or  Woods),  1636-1718,  of  Watertown 
and  Groton. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Train  Band  of  Watertown. 
In  1662  he  moved  to  Groton  where  he  was  one  of  the 
original  proprietors,  and  resided  in  the  town  until  its 
destruction  by  the  Indians  in  King  Philip's  War  in  1676, 
when  he  participated  in  its  defense.  When  the  town  was 
abandoned,  he  returned  to  Watertown.  But  in  1677  ne 
signed  the  agreement  made  at  Concord,  to  resettle  Groton, 
and  the  following  year  went  back  to  Groton. 

In  King  William's  War  in  1691-1692  his  home  was 
made  a  garrison  house  for  defense  against  Indian  attacks. 


r.344] 


INDEX 


Albuquerque,  67 

Alger,    Secretary,    53,    74,    75, 

293,  ,322,  323,  324 
Algonquins,  58 
Ali,  Dato,  237  to  250 

cannon  of,  241,  248 

death  of,  250 

defeat  of,  243,  244 

parleys    with,   242,   247,   248, 
249 

pursuit  of,  245,  246 
Aliquippa,  Queen,  59 
Allegheny  Mountains,  58 
American  Constitution,  22,  23, 

313 

Americanism,   20,   21,   47,   278, 

281,  282,  294,  313 
Apaches,  56,  59,  60,  61,  62,  64, 

65,  66,  67 

Arizona,  50,  51,  56,  57,  58,  62, 

66,  71,  75 
Army,  British,  259,  303 
Army,  French,  303 
Army  Officers,  U.  S. 

defects  in  promotion  of,  268, 

269,  270 
elimination  of  unfit,  267,  268, 

270 
foreign  languages  for,  272 
foreign  travel   for,  271,  272, 
273 
Ashford,  Dr.  Bailey  K.,  257 
Athens,  Ga.,  44 
Autocracy,  281 

B 

Bacon,  Robert,   Sr.,  293 
Baker,  Ray  Stannard,  53,  109, 
173 


Barlow,  Capt.  Edward,  xi,  28, 

3i,  32,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37,  38 
Barlow,  Capt.  Jesse,  32,  33,  34 
Barlow,    Capt.    Will,   31 
Bates,  Dr.,  53 
Bates,  General,  227 
Battle    of    las    Guasimas,    79, 

82,  85,  87,  89,  90 
Battle  of  San  Juan,  72,  79,  87 
Beri-Beri,  55 
Bishop    of    Habana    Donatus, 

161,    163,    164 
Blackhawk,   59 
Blizzard,  Mr.,  121,  122 
"Bloody  Ground,"  the,  58 
Board  of  Pardons,  156 
Bolsheviks,    21,   278,   281,   308, 

3ii 
Borden,   Col.,   152 
Borneo,  216,  223 
Boston,  49 

Boston  City  Hospital,  48,  49 
Boyhood  Books,  39 
Bradford,   Gov.,   21 
British  Army,  259,  303 
Brooke,  General,  137,  325 
Buddajo,   120,  222 
Bullitt,  W.  M.,  293 
Buxton,  G.  E.,  293 
Buzzards  Bay,  24,  25,  30 


Camp  Funston,  278 

Cancio,    Seiior    Leopold,    169, 

170 
Cape  Cod,  22,  24,  32,  41,  57,  58 
Carroll,  Col.  Henry,  80,  93 
Carroll,  Surgeon,  188,  197,  198 
Cataumet,   25,   38 


[345] 


INDEX 


Celebes  Islands,  217 

Ceylon,  219 

Charleston,  58 

Chicago    Civilian   Relief    Soc, 

279 
Chickamauga,  259 
Chiltonville,  Mass.,  24 
City  Hospital,  Boston,  48,  49 
Civil  War,  19,  24,  52 
Clark,  Grenville,  293 
Cleveland,  President,  53 
Colonial  Wars,  20 
Commerce,      Department      of, 

138,  140,  142,  149 
complications,   financial,    144, 

145,   170 
constitution,    175,    179,    180, 

182,  183 
courts,    reformed,    154,    155, 

156,  157,  158 
desire    for    immediate    inde- 
pendence, 127 
election,      preliminary,      176, 

177,  178,  179,  181,  183,  184 
fear  of  annexation,  127,  128, 

129,  130 
fear      of      exploitation      by 

Americans,  128,  135 
finance,   department   of,    138, 

142,  166,   169 
hospitals,  148 
insane  asylums,  148,  149 
instruction,     department     of 

public,  138,   140,  142 
justice,    department   of,    139, 

140,  142,  153,  154 
marriage  laws,  159,  160,  164, 

166 
new  laws,  134,  135 
prisons,  and  care  of  orphans, 

145,  146,   147 
public  works,  department  of, 

139,  140,  142,  152,  153 

railroads,  151,  152 

reorganization  of  municipal- 
ities and  provinces,  135, 
136,  137,  140,  143 

rural   guards,    132,    133,    134, 

177 
schools,  public,  167,  168 


Commerce,    state,    department 
of,  137,  138,  139,  142,  143 
strikes,  151 

taxation,  141,  144,  170 
university    of    Habana,    164, 

165 
Communism,  281 
Conant,  Ernest  L.,  167 
Congressional  Medal  of  Honor, 

69,  94,  316  to  322 
Constitutional     Law,     Wood's 

devotion  to,  21,  22 
Cooke,  Francis,  21 
Cotabato,  225,  240,  247 
Cotabato  River,  241,  245,  247 
Creelman,  James,  222 
Cromer,  Lord,  205,  219,  312 
Crook,  General,  56 
Cuba,   54,   73,   94,    127   to    187, 

310,  319 
Cabinet  officers,  selection  of, 

J38,  139,  140,  160,  161,  162, 

163 
Catholic     Church     property, 

160,  161,  162,  163 
Custer  Massacre,  57 


Daiguiri  Beach,  81,  94 

Dakota  Indians,  58 

Davao,  225 

Davis,  Dwight,  293 

Davis,  General,  220 

Davis,  Richard  Harding,  293 

Death  Valley,  63 

Decentralization,       Importance 

of,  124,  125 
Department,  Southeastern,  43 

Eastern,   121 
Desertions,      among      enlisted 

men,  276 
Dewey,  Admiral,  271 
Dibblee,  Benj.,  293 
Dimock,  Frank,  35 
Dimock,  Frank,  Jr.,  28,  35,  39 
Dodge,  Grenville,  107 
Dorey,    Halstead,    xi,   46,    284, 

299 
Duncan,  Colonel,  120,  222 


[346] 


INDEX 


Egypt,  205,  219 

El  Caney,  89.  92 

Eliot,    President   of    Harvard, 

167 
Ellis  Island,  121,  122 
Estevez  Y  Romero,  176,  186 


Finlay,  Dr.,  196,  197 

First  encounter,  19,  60 

First  Volunteer  Cavalry  Regi- 
ment, 71,  74,  79,  80 

Fish,  Sgt.   Hamilton,  83 

Foraker,    Senator  J.  B.,  215 

Forbes,  Cameron,  167 

Forsythe,  Gen.  George,  50,  323 

Fort  Huachucha,  Arizona,  50, 
56,  60 

Fort  McPherson,  Georgia,  43, 

53 
Fourth  of  July  casualties,  254 
Frederick  the  Great,  114 
"Freetchy,"  Barbara,  35,  36 
French   and   Indian   Wars,  20, 

58,  60 
French  Army,  303 
Funston,  General,  206,  221,  290 


Garcia,  General,  108 
Gary,  steel  strikes  at,  280 
Gener,  Dr.  Migual,  153 
George  III  of  England,  118 
Georgia,  53 

Georgia   Institute  of   Technol- 
ogy, 43 
Geronimo,  56,  59,  60,  63,  66,  67, 

73,  96 
Gettysburg,  Pa.,  292 
Gibbs,  Capt.  Irving,  38,  39 
Glenn,  Gen.  Edwin  F.,  xi,  299 
Goethals,    General,    188 
Gomez,   General,   109,   138,  204 
Gonzales,  Alexander,   109 
Gorgas,   Surgeon,   188 
Governor's  Island,  38,  121,  122 
Gowenlock,   Thomas,  xi 


Graham,  General,  50,  323 
Great  White  Sultan,  223,  229, 

231,  237,  239 
Groton,  Mass.,  60 


H 


Habana,  94,  123,  131,  152,  153, 

181,  183,  194,  195,  201 
Hadji  Butu,  235,  236 
Hagar,  Caroline,  19 
Hamilton,  Lieut.  Col.,  80 
Hannah,  Lieut.  M.  E.,  168 
Harvard    College,   25,   40,   311 
medical    school,    37,    40,    48, 

57 
teachers'   expedition  to,   167. 

168 
Haskell,  Miss,  29,  40 
Haughton,  Percy,  293 
Headmen,  Moro,  225,  226,  227, 

231 
Heintzman,   Sgt,  122 
Helmick,  Capt.,  217 
Hernandez  y  Barreiro,  140,  176 
Hodges,  Gen.  Harry  L.,  152 
Hooker,  Henry,  293 
Hopkins,  Stephen,   19,  21 
Howland,   Capt.,  228,  229,  230 
Hughes,  Charles  E.,  Jr.,  293 
Huidekoper,  Frederick,  293 


India,  219 

Indians,  19,  20,  56,  57,  59,  60. 
61 

Algonquins,  58 

Apaches,   56,   59,  60,  62,   64, 
65,  66,  67 

Arapahoes,   58 

Dakotas,  58 

Iroquois,  58 

Narragansets,  58 

Pequots,  58 

Seminoles,  58 

Sioux,  58 

Wampanoags,  58 
Indian  Territory,  71,  7$ 
Indiana,    121,    122 


[347] 


INDEX 


Internationalism,  281 
Investigations 

Congressional,  120 

Senate,  206,  324,  325,  326 


Jackson,   Gen.   Stonewall,  85 
Jado,  Sen6r  Jose  Varela,  154 
Jimbangan,  Dato,  247 
Johnston,  Gordon,  xi,  299 
Jolo,  Island  of,   119,  225 

K 

Kansas    Agricultural    College, 

278 
Kansas  University,  278 
Kean,  Dr.,  188,  197,  198 
Kent,  General,  79,  89,  90,  92 
Kentucky,  58 
Kettle  Hill,  89,  90,  92 
Kilbourne,  Chas.,  xi,  299 


Lacoste,  Sefior  Perfecto,  150 

Lake  Liguasan,  245 

Lanao,  225 

Las  Guasimas,  Battle  of,  79,  82, 
85,  &7,  89,  90 

Lawton,  Maj.  Gen.,  50,  56,  57, 
61,  62,  63,  64,  65,  67,  69, 
70,  79,  89,  92,  93,  96,  315, 
317,  3i8,  319,  320,  321,  323, 
332 

Lazaer,  Surgeon,  188,  197,  198 

Leavenworth,  62 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  85 

Legion  of  Honor,  285 

Leicester,  Mass.,  19 

Leprosy,  55 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  59,  72,  116 

Little  Bighorn,  59 

LL.D. — Princeton  University, 
300,  301 

Los  Angeles,  51 

Lotus  Patches,  246 

Louis  XVI  of  France,  118 

Ludlow,    General,    194 

Luzon,  217 


M 

McArthur,  Douglas,  299 
McClellan,  General,  116 
McClure's,     quotations     from, 

53,   100,  101 
McCoy,  Capt.  Frank  R.,  46,  250 
Mcllvaine,  293 
McKibben,  Colonel,  93 
McKinley,  President,  53,  73,  74, 

93,   130,  206,  211,  213,  324, 

325,  326 
McNair,  Capt,  217 
Macon,  Ga.,  44 
MacVicar,  John,  293 
Magincianao,   Sultan  of,  238 
Malone,  D.  F.,  294 
Manila,  217,  220,  222 
Mann,  Clarence  C,  168 
Manoeuvres,  German,  282,  283, 

284,  285 
Martha's  Vineyard,  25,  31 
Marti  Theater,  181 
Massachusetts,  19,  24,  73 
Massachusetts  Colony,  20 
Matanzas,   152 
Mayflower,  20,  21,  22,  60 
Mayflower  compact,  22 
Mexico,  58,  62,  121,  258,  308 
Middleboro,  27,  40,  41 
Miles,  Maj.  Gen.,  50,  51,  69,  70, 

321,  323 
Miley,  Lieut.,  92 
Mindanao,  43,  46,  217,  218,  219, 

220,  222,  225,  235,  237 
Mitchel,  John  Purroy,  293 
Mohawk  River,  58 
Monterey,  Calif.,  42,  51,  292 
Monument  Beach,  24,  31 
Moro  Province,  119,  216  to  251 
Moro  women  killed  in  battle, 

120 
Moseley,  Geo.  V.  S.,  299 
Mosquitoes  on  Lake  Liguasan, 

246 


N 


Napoleon,  114 

Narraganset  Indians,  58 

New  England,  23,  24,  54,  58,  59 


[348] 


INDEX 


New  Mexico,  51,  58,  61,  62,  67, 

7h  75 

New  York,  59 

Ninth  Regular  Cavalry,  80,  85 

Nixon,  Brig.  Gen.  John,  20 

Nolan,  Denis,  299 

North  Falmouth,  35 


Old  Colony  Line,  25,  26,  30 
Omaha,  riots  in,  280 
Outlook,  The,  203 


Palma,  President  of  Cuba,  185, 

204 
Parker,   Frank,  299 
Patch,  Capt.,  xi 

Pearl  fisheries,  Philippines,  228 
Peksuot,  59 

Pepper,  Geo.  Wharton,  293 
Pequot  Indians,  58 
Pershing,  Capt.,  217 
Philip,  King,  59,  60 
Philippine,  44,  54,  55,  94,  127 

carnival  at  Manila,  266 

Christians,    217 

Confucians,  224 

courts,  227 

economy    of    administration, 
262,  263 

experiments      with      forage 
grasses,  265 

headmen,  225,  226,  227,  231 

Koran,  precepts  of,  233,  234, 
235,  237 

Mohammedans,  216 

native  lumber,  262,  263 

pearl  fishery,  228 

penalty  for  murder,  225 

piracies,  217 

polygamy,  232,  233 

priests,  227 

schools,  232 

slavery,  232,  237,  238 

slaves,  217,  253 

Christian,   234,   235 
Mohammedan,  234,  235 


Pierce  Academy,  27,  40 
Pilgrims,  20,  22,  23,  24,  57 
Plattsburg,  x,  292,  293  to  296, 

300 
"Plutarch's  Lives,"  39 
Plymouth  Rock,  20,  22,  24,  57, 

58 
Pocasset,  25,  27,  28,  29,  30,  35 
Pocasset  school,  26,  27,  28,  29 
Police,     Royal     Northwestern 

Mounted,  62 
Polygamy,    laws    against,    232, 

233 
Pontiac,  59 

Princeton  University,  300,  301 
Proctor,  Wm.  Cooper,  293 
Prussianism,  281,  282.  286 


Rajah,    Mudah,   the,   228,  229, 

230 
Rathbone,  Estes  G.,  204 
Reed,     Surgeon    Walter,     188, 

197,   198,  202,  257 
Religion,  Wood's,  45 
Remington,  Lieut.,  250 
Republicanism,   281,   286 
Revolution,  American,  20 
Rey,  Gen.  Vara  de,  90,  91 
Rifle,  Crag,  76 
Rivera,  Gen.  Rius,  140,  150 
Roberts,    Field    Marshal,    284, 

285,  287 
Rocky  Mountains,  58 
Rodriguez,  Brig.  Gen.,  133 
Roman   Catholic   Church,    160, 

161,  162,  163 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  ix,  xi,  52, 

53,  54,  62,  67,  68,  73,  74,  77, 

78,  80,   82,  85,  86,  87,  92, 

129,  173,  203,  206,  218,  219, 

294,  308,  315,  327,  329,  330, 

33i,  332 
Root,  Secy.  Elihu,  130,  135,  174, 

179,  187,  212,  214,  291,  328 
Root,  Elihu,  Jr.,  293 
Rough  Riders,  71,  72,  75,  76,  77, 

70,  81,  84,  85,  86 


[349] 


INDEX 


Sagamore,  35 

Salem,  58 

Sampson,  Admiral,  89 

San  Antonio,  76 

San  Antonio,  Texas,  76 

San  Juan,  72,  95 

battle  of,  72,  7Q 

hills,  88,  89,  90 

river,  88,  89,  90,  92,  93 
Santiago  de   Cuba,  45,  81,  88, 
89,  93,  94,  97  to  in 

cleansing  of  city,  95,  102,  103, 

104,  105,  106 
fall  of,  93,  94,  95 

famine  and  fever,  95,  08,  09, 

100,   101 
high  death  rate,  95,  97,  98 
prejudice  against  sanitary  in- 
novation, 101,  102,  103,  104, 

105,  106 

unsanitary  conditions  of  city, 

95,  97,  98 
water  supply,  98,  107,  108 
Scott,   Colonel,   228,  229 
Second   Cavalry   Brig.,  80,  81, 

82,  87,  92,  96 
Second   Regular  Inf.,  78,  79 
Seminoles,  58 
Seventh  Cavalry,  59 
71st  New  York  Volunteers,  78 
Shafter,  General,  79,  80,  81,  00, 

9i,  92,  93,  96,  325 
Sherman,  General,  53 
Shore  Peeps,  29,  30,  31 
Siboney,  81,  82,  88 
Singapore,  228 
Sioux,  58 
Sirinaya,  Fort  of,  240,  241,  242, 

245 
Sitting  Bull,  59 
Slavery,    suppression    of,    232, 

237,  238 
Smith,  Col.  John  Condit,  52 
Smith,   Louisa   A.    Condit,   51, 

52 
Smith,  Wilbur,  xi 
Socrates,  273 
Southern   California,   51 


Spanish  American  War,  51,  71, 

72 
St.  Lawrence  River,  58 
Stamford  Street  Office,  49 
Standish,  Miles,  19,  59 
Stanley,  explorer,  241 
Stanton,  Sec.  of  War,  116 
Stegomyia,  199,  200 
Stewart,  Redmond,  293 
Stimson,   Henry  L.,  xi 
Straits   Settlement,  219 
Sultan   of    Sulu,  46,   227,  22S, 

o  <  235 
Sulu,  44,  227 

Summeral,   Chas.   P.,  299 

Sumner,  Brig.  Gen.,  80,  206,  214 

Susquehanna  River,  58 


Taft,  Gov.,  220 

Tamayo,  Sefior  Diego,  139,  176 

Tampa,  Florida,  77,  78 

Taracas,  239 

Tennessee,  58 

Thirty-third  Mich.  Volun.  Inf., 

89 
Thomas,  Landon,  xi 
Tories,  21 
Treaty,  Bates,  227 
Tropical  anaemia,  257,  258 
Typhoid  fever 

death  rate,  255 

prevention  of,  259 

U 

Uproaders,  29,  30,  31 
U.  S.  Army 
as  an  instrument  of  construc- 
tion, 254 
its  life  saving  work,  256,  257, 
259,  260 


Van  Horn,  Sir  William,  151 
Varona,    Sefior   Enrique   Jose, 

140,  165,  166,  169,  170,  176 
Villalon,    Sefior    Jose    Ramon, 

140,  152 
Vincent,  George,  293 


[350] 


INDEX 


W 

Warren,  Richard,  19,  21 
Warren,  Senator,  73 
Washington,  D.  G,  53 
Washington,  George,  59,  310 
Weigel,   General  Wm,  299 
Weston,  Mass.,  19,  24 
Weyler,    Capt.-General,    131 
Wheeler,     Maj.    Gen.    Joseph, 

80,  81,  87,  89,  90,  96,  324 
Wherry,  Colonel,  79 
White,  Chief  Justice,  154,  179 
White,  William,  21 
Whittlessey,  Charles,  293 
Williams,  S.  M.,  xi 
Wilmington   (North  Carolina) 

Star,  251 
Winchester,   N.   H.,   19 
Wood,  Barbara,  24,  27 
Wood,  Caroline  Hagar,  28,  41 
Wood,  Chas.  Jewett,  19,  20,  27, 

32,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37 
Wood's  Hole,  25,  30 
Wood,  Jacob,  24,  28,  31 
Wood,  Leonard 
his   feats   of   endurance,   34, 

42,  43,  61,  62,  63,  64,  65, 

103,   123 
his  religion,  45 
is  he  too  much  of  a  military 

man?  307 
promoted,      Brig.-Gen.,      93, 

324,  325,  326,  329 


Wood,  Leonard 
promoted,      Maj. -Gen.,     211, 
212,  213,  214,  215,  329 
Wood,  Samuel,  of  Groton,  60 
Wood's    attitude    towards    en- 
listed   men    of    the    U.    S. 
Army 
annual  meets  for,  274 
court-martials    of,    274,    275, 

276 
desertions  among,  276 
educational    work    for,    277, 
278 
'  field  days  for,  274 

organized  athletics  for,  273 
Woods,  Arthur,  293 


X 


Xenophon,  273 


Yaqui  River,  66 
Yellow  fever,  54,  188  to  202,  257 
discovery  of    cause   of,    196, 

197,   198,   199 
old  theories  about,  189,  190, 

191 
prevalence   of,   189 
prevention  of,  200,  201 
sanitary   measures   to  abate, 

192,  193,  194 

Z 

Zamboanga,  225 


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